Tobacco market in India - statistics & facts

Tobacco products consumption

While most of the tobacco is processed into cigarettes, the leftovers are used to make the popular beedi or bidi, where tobacco is wrapped in tendu leaves. Smokeless tobacco has been quite popular in the country for centuries with variants of chewing and snuffing tobacco products. Due to easy access and low cost, products such as paan/pan, gutka, and flavored tobacco are widely consumed by young and old alike. Unfortunately, this makes for distinct red paan stains on walls all over the country. A variety of bidis and smokeless tobacco products are made in cottage industries without warnings on the packaging and sold in family-owned shops and stalls. Furthermore, at least 75 percent of cigarettes are sold as single sticks, so buyers don’t see the warnings on the packet.

Tobacco ban and taxation

Tobacco consumption has been reduced significantly in the country. Despite this, it is still used by 275 million people, and as society liberalizes more women are taking up smoking. A series of legal precautions and warnings came into effect at the turn of the millennium. It started with banning advertising of tobacco and alcohol use, followed by mandatory pictorial warnings on products. A Supreme Court judgment in 2001 banned smoking in public spaces in the country, and a series of governmental anti-tobacco advertisements followed this messaging. Public spaces and restaurants have designated areas for smoking. The ban on the sale, manufacture, distribution, and storage of gutka and all its variants was implemented in May 2013 and consequent notifications have enforced a strict ban on all smokeless tobacco products. The number of legal cigarettes has decreased while the illegal cigarette trade has increased dramatically due to high cigarette taxes and strict tobacco control laws like India's 85 percent pictorial warning on tobacco product packs.

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