MYSORE: A staggering 95 billion cigarettes are smoked in the country every year. But contrary to popular perception, the number of cigarettes as well as its smokers in India has remained virtually stagnant for the past 20 years, barring minor fluctuations.

This was part of the statistics on tobacco consumption in India that the Director of the Tobacco Institute of India (TII), Udayan Lall, shared with presspersons here.

"The number of cigarettes sold in the country was 95 billion even in 1985. Even in 2005, just about the same number of cigarettes are sold," he said seeking to shatter the myth about increasing cigarette consumption in India. However, there were minor fluctuations of a few hundred million during the 1990s.

Even though 55 per cent of adult Indian males consume different types of tobacco such as beedis, cigarettes, chewing tobacco and gutka, the number of cigarette smokers in the country now stands at around 15 million. Asked whether India had witnessed an upward or a downward swing in the number of smokers, Mr. Lall refused to hazard a guess. But he said that he is convinced that the spiralling cost of cigarettes has forced people to shift to cheaper substitutes such as beedi.

The number of beedi smokers in the country is roughly eight times that of cigarette smokers, he said. Unlike the rest of the world where cigarettes account for almost 90 per cent of the tobacco consumed, in India cigarettes account for just 14 per cent. The remaining 86 per cent comprises a wide range of traditional products such as beedis, gutka and chewing tobacco. "Actually, the cigarettes' share in India has been steadily declining and it has dropped from 23 per cent in 1971 to 14 per cent," he said.

Source:
http://www.hindu.com/2005/04/26/stories/2005042607640400.htm