India's southern state of Kerala imposes fat tax on junk food

The southern Indian state of Kerala has become the first in the country to impose "fat tax" on junk and fast food items, in a bid to help obese people shed flab.

The state government recently introduced a "fat tax" of 14.5 per cent on eateries and restaurants that sell junk food items like burgers, pizzas and doughnuts, a government official said Saturday.

"The new tariff will apply to multinational food chains like McDonald's and Domino's, but it's up to them to pass on the cost to customers by raising prices," he said, on condition of anonymity.

The fat tax was proposed by the Left Front government, which recently came to power in the state, and the previous Congress-led government had introduced a policy to make the state alcohol-free.

Hundreds of bars have already been shut down, though five-star and luxury hotels are exempt from the ban for the time being.

Earlier this year, the eastern Indian state of Bihar introduced a "luxury tax" on samosas (a popular snack) to make up for the loss in the state exchequer from a new ban on alcohol sales. Endit