Government of India has decided to renew the Certificate of Registration as Virginia tobacco grower and License for operation of a barn to 3 years instead of 1 year as a part of ease of doing business, in order to reduce the burden of mandatory yearly renewal of Certificate of Registration as Virginia tobacco grower and license for operation of a barn. This means, the registrations / licenses will be valid for 3 years instead of the existing practice of renewing every year.

To facilitate the growers to renew this registration / licenses once in 3 years, the Government of India has amended the sub-rule(5), (6) and (7) of rule 33 and sub-rule (2) and (3) of rule 34N, of Tobacco Board Rules, 1976.  The amendment to the aforementioned Tobacco Board Rules, 1976 was published in the Gazette of India by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Department of Commerce, Government of India.The same will be effective from 2025-26 crop season in Andhra Pradesh.

This amendment of increasing the periodicity from one to three years will be greatly helpful to around 83,500 farmers covering around 91,000 barns in renewing their registrations/licenses across Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Telangana and Odisha states.

Virginia tobacco is being regulated in India by an Act of Parliament i.e., Tobacco Board Act, 1975 and the rules notified there under.  As per the Tobacco Board Act, 1975 and Rules notified thereunder, every grower intending to take up cultivation of Virginia tobacco has to obtain certificate of registration as a grower and a license for operation of a barn.  Accordingly, the Tobacco Board is facilitating the registration / licensing on an annual basis. 

India is 2^nd largest producer and 4^th largest exporter of unmanufactured tobacco in the World (in value terms during 2023) and generating to the Indian exchequer.   During 2024-25 Financial Year, Tobacco exports contributed 1979 US million dollars (Rs.16,728 Crores) to the Indian exchequer. 

Registration validity for Virginia tobacco growers extended to three years, reducing annual renewal requirements under Tobacco Board Rules. The Tobacco Board Rules, 1976 have been amended to extend the validity of Certificates of Registration for Virginia tobacco growers and licences for barn operation from annual renewals to a three year validity by modifying sub rules of rule 33 and rule 34N, effective from the 2025-26 crop season in Andhra Pradesh, facilitating less frequent renewal and reduced compliance burden.