ITC Ltd today said that hike in cigarette prices was inevitable due to imposition

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of excise duty on tobacco in the Union Budget for 2010-11.

"Increase in cigarette prices is inevitable," spokesperson of ITC Najeeb Arif told PTI.

He said that while the effective rates of taxation on cigarettes prior to the Budget announcement was 190 per cent, it (the budget) had imposed another 17 per cent excise duty hike.

Arif said the company had not yet made the increased invoice and stocks at the old price were still available in the market.

The company did not divulge on which brands the company would effect a price hike.

Meanwhile, many cigarette dealers in central Kolkata said that they had run out of stock for some brands like Gold Flake.

The price rise was necessitated after evaluating the impact on excise hike on costs, he said.