The government is going to present a total of 9 big Economic Bills in the Winter Session which is going to be held before Budget 2026. Among these, two important bills—Health Security to National Security Cess Bill 2025 and The Central Excise (Amendment) Bill—are especially in the news. Due to the expiry of the Compensation Cess, preparations have been made to implement a new cess, the purpose of which is to raise additional resources for the expenditure on health and national security. This new cess will not be decided on the quantity of production, but on the basis of production capacity of the machines and will be applicable on the machines making Gutkha and tobacco products. According to media reports, in addition to 40% GST, 70% cess will be levied on tobacco products, while on cigarettes, a special cess ranging from Rs 2,700 to Rs 11,000 will be imposed on every thousand cigarettes depending on the length. Another big bill is related to the insurance sector—The Insurance Laws Amendment Bill, 2025—which includes a proposal to increase the FDI limit in the insurance sector from 74% to 100%. So far, FDI worth about Rs 82,000 crore has come in the insurance sector, and the government wants this to increase capital, competition and efficiency in the sector. To simplify and unify the rules related to the share market, the government will also introduce Securities Market Code Bill, 2025. This bill aims to bring a unified and simplified law for the securities market so that doing business in the market can become easier. Apart from this, Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (Amendment) Bill 2025, Manipur GST (Second Amendment) Bill 2025, National Highways (Amendment) Bill 2025 and Corporate Laws (Amendment) Bill 2025 will also be introduced in this session. This Winter Session is considered very important for many economic reforms and new structures.
