New Delhi, April 13 -- The price hikes implemented by cigarette makers such as ITC and Godfrey Phillips to mitigate the impact of higher taxes by the government have started to show up in the companies' sales figures.

A recent report from Informist suggests that cigarette sales have fallen up to 5% in March and are down further in April, with the impact expected to show up in the March quarter numbers.

Cigarette prices have increased by a minimum of Rs.22 to 25 per pack of 10 sticks to as much as Rs.55 after the government imposed an additional excise duty on cigarettes and tobacco products over and above the highest 40% GST slab rate, effective February 1. The excise duty hike is in the range of Rs.2,050-8,500 per thousand sticks based...