Impact of WHO-FCTC on the performance of Indian tobacco sector

Abstract

Tobacco, a commercial crop, plays a vital role in contri-buting significantly to the national exchequer besides providing livelihood security to a sizeable population in India. The present study assessed the impact of WHO-FCTC on the performance of the Indian tobacco sector. The growth rate, instability and competitive indices were estimated using the secondary data by dividing the study period into pre-FCTC (1998–2005), transitional-FCTC (2006–13), and post-FCTC (2013–20) regimes. The analysis revealed that tobacco production and export witnessed a high growth rate, high export instability and enhanced export competitiveness during pre and trans-FCTC regimes, and a low growth rate in produc-tion and export with low instability and declining global competitiveness in the post-FCTC regime. This implies the growing public awareness of the adverse effects of tobacco and the practical implementation of tobacco control policies in India and across the globe. Neverthe-less, policy interventions need to be further accelerated. Also, it is inevitable to identify economically viable alter-native crops and other enterprises to avert possible ad-verse environmental and socio-economic impacts from the multiple cultivators and other stakeholders in India