New Delhi [India], September 25 (ANI): The illicit market in textiles and apparel; packaged goods; personal and household care; alcohol; and tobacco has expanded faster in India and is undermining legitimate businesses, according to a report. As per the report, textiles and apparel accounted for over 50 per cent of the total illicit market in 2022-23. FMCG (Packaged foods) and FMCG (Personal and Household Care Goods) accounted for nearly 37 per cent of the total size of the illicit market.
Also Read | From Muttiah Muralitharan to Ravichandran Ashwin, Take a Look at Top 5 Players With Most Five-Wicket Hauls in Test Cricket. Industry body FICCI's Committee Against Smuggling and Counterfeiting Activities Destroying the Economy (CASCADE), in association with the Thought Arbitrage Research Institute (TARI), has launched a comprehensive report titled 'Consuming The Illicit: How Changing Factors of Consumption Affect Illegal Markets in 5 Key Industries' that pegs the size of illicit market in India at Rs 797,726 crore in 2022-23. Besides undermining the legitimate businesses, the report asserted that the illicit trade is distorting competition, and significantly eating into government tax revenues.
Also Read | Bengaluru Horror: Suspect in Woman's Brutal Murder on Run in Odisha, Teams Sent To Nab Him, Says Karnataka Home Minister G Parameshwara. The report attributed the burgeoning size of the illicit market to heightened consumption of high-value branded, luxury, high-end, taxed goo.
