Daijiworld Media Network – New Delhi

New Delhi, Dec 9: Parliament on Monday gave its final nod to the Health Security and National Security Cess Bill 2025, which seeks to impose a cess on pan masala manufacturing units to boost funding for national security initiatives and public health programmes. The Lok Sabha had cleared the bill last Friday.

Introducing the bill in the Rajya Sabha, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said the proposal aims to create a “dedicated resource stream” for two critical sectors of national importance. She emphasised that the cess targets demerit goods and does not affect essential commodities or burden ordinary citizens.

“This tax or cess is to be a deterrent to those who tend to use these demerit goods, and it certainly doesn’t burden ordinary citizens and their essential daily consumption,” she clarified, adding that the levy will have no impact on the GST system.

Explaining the structure, Sitharaman said the cess will be linked to the packing machine capacity and the grammage of products, ensuring transparency and predictability in assessment. “The intention is that this levy shall capture the production potential of the unit... The levy is not on actual production, but production capacity,” she noted.

Opposition MPs questioned the bill’s naming convention, which mixes Hindi and English, and urged for deeper scrutiny through a parliamentary committee. Congress MP Shaktisingh Gohil objected to the bill being listed late, leaving little time for members to study it or propose amendments.

Trinamool Congress MP Saket Gokhale also mocked the bill’s title, remarking that if inclusivity was the goal, the government could introduce a bill named in Bangla ahead of the upcoming state elections.