In his last budget, Finance Minister Manpreet Badal, an MLA from Gidderbaha, had announced a VAT exemption and industry is thankful for that. But according to its representative, the damage done is beyond repair now.

"We certainly are deeply obliged to the FM for his exemption and hope that it will continue this year too. Though the industry as a whole was benefited by around Rs 9 lakh, it's in dire straits. The players in this business are struggling to make ends meet," says Arun Grover, manufacturer of 6 photo brand of snuff.

The industry has seen good days too. In fact, there was a time when it exported to places as far as Kathmandu and parts of China. Things started going bad with the onset on militancy. Subsequently, prevalence of small packets of guthkas, cigarettes and other fancy products exacerbated the woes of the industry.

"It was after 1984, when the terrorism started to spread its tentacles in Punjab and opposed tobacco and like products that the naswar business started its downward journey," says Sudhir Arora, general secretary of the Small-Scale Snuff Industry Association and manufacturer of 50-photo brand of snuff.

Tracing the history, he says, "In the early years of the last century, a local saint, Baba Ganga Ram, asked one of his disciples, Khetu Ram, to find the scope of snuff business. This led the follower to start manufacture of 5-photo naswar brand. It turned out to be a huge success."

As of now, snuff made in Punjab is sent to markets in Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar and Delhi. "Business is turning sparser by the day. The new generation is more inclined towards guthkas and cigarettes," says Grover.