A group of cigarettes sit arranged for a photograph. (Photographer: Jason Alden/Bloomberg)
Cross-border smuggling of cigarettes spiked during the pandemic as peddlers of the contraband took advantage of supply-chain disruption.Indian authorities seized illegally imported cigarettes worth Rs 1,772 crore between April 2020 and February 2021, according to a response to a query in the Lok Sabha. That compares with seizures worth Rs 187.6 crore in the previous financial year.The nation manufactured about 6,800 crore cigarettes ...