HEADLINES:  

India is the second- largest producer of tobacco in the world after China. However, it holds a meagre 0.7 per cent share of the $30-billion global trade in tobacco. Cigarettes account for 85 per cent of the country's total tobacco exports. Of the total tobacco produced in the country, around 48 per cent is consumed in the form of chewing tobacco, 38 per cent as bidis, and 14 per cent as cigarettes.

The per capita consumption of cigarettes in India is a tenth of the world average. In the recent past, the consumption of tobacco has been reduced by anti-tobacco drives and the ban of consumption in public areas.


The biggest player in this industry is ITC with a market share of 72 per cent.

The government has announced significant increase in taxes on tobacco products in the budget for the fiscal year 2012-13. Health experts say that taxes must be increased manifold on tobacco products as evidence shows that price rise of 10% decreases consumption of tobacco products by up to 8% particularly in low and middle-income levels in India.

  INDIAN tobacco Industry AT A Glance IN 2011 - 2012

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