Health Minister Harsh Vardhan has urged States and Union Territories to impose at least 50 per cent VAT on all tobacco products to discourage smoking among youths.

His communique to the states comes soon after his request to Finance Minister Arun Jaitley to effect a hike in prices of tobacco products in this year's budget.

Dr Vardhan cited a recent report which put the total economic cost attributable to all diseases caused by tobacco consumption at 1.04 lakh crore rupees and stressed the need to discourage tobacco consumption for reducing avoidable public expenditure.

In his letter to Chief Ministers, Dr Vardhan also cited the example of Rajasthan where VAT or value-added tax on tobacco products stands at 60 per cent.

Quoting a report, Dr Vardhan said 80 per cent of deaths caused by non-communicable diseases are due to cardio-vascular diseases, cancer, chronic respiratory problems and diabetes, for which tobacco consumption is a major reason.