Disclosing this, GPIL chief executive Ram Poddar said that the growth in turnover is a result of rise in cigarette prices. ``We will end the year with a higher turnover mainly due to rise in cigarette prices,'' said Poddar. GPIL posted a turnover of Rs 1,100 crore last fiscal.

The KK Modi-promoted cigarette major has recorded a Rs 10 crore rise in its exports turnover of raw and processed tobacco to west European countries. Its total turnover from exports is expected to reach Rs 30 crore this fiscal.

GPIL, which has a 12.5 to 13 per cent market share of the domestic cigarette market, plans to increase its share. It is already giving market leader ITC Ltd, which has a 65 per cent countrywide share, a run for its money by launching a new brand of long filters `Four Square Gold' in Mumbai.

The new brand will take-on ITC's `WillsNavy Cut' at the same price of Rs 17.50 for a 10-stick pack. ``This was a price segment where we were not present and we decided to plug it,'' said Poddar.

The brand is the fourth from the GPIL stable. Its other brands include `Four Square Kings' in the king size segment plus `Four Square Special' and `Four Square Premier' in the regular size segment.

Poddar said that the continuous drop in cigarette sales so far in the current fiscal has been a worrying factor for the industry.

``I expect that the fiscal will end with a 4-5 per cent fall in sales of cigarettes compared to 1998-99,'' he added.

The fall in sales experienced all through this fiscal continued in December though there were higher clearances by all three cigarette majors, ITC Ltd, GPIL and Vazir Sultan Tobacco (VST), in anticipation of any problem related to the Y2K bug. Incidentally, the increase in cigarette prices, which has helped shore-up bottomlines, is cited by industry as the biggest factor responsible for drop in sales.

``Whenprices of cigarettes go up in India, the consumer shifts back to cheaper alternatives of tobacco consumption such as bidis and gutka,'' said Poddar.

The three cigarette majors had effected across-the-board rise in prices post-budget to boost their bottomlines in this fiscal though the budget was a soft one on the excise front with only excise on mini cigarettes being raised. The companies had claimed that price increases were necessitated by overall increase in tax burden. The prices went up by Rs 1.45 per pack for King size packs and Rs 1.00 per pack for regular packs.