India, March 11 -- The second Wednesday of March is observed as No Smoking Day, a reminder of the global health challenge posed by cigarette smoking. In India, where smoking has long been embedded in habits, the numbers reveal progress and persistent concern.

India is the second largest producer and consumer of tobacco and has around 100-130 million smokers (14% of Indian adults smoke), making it one of the largest smoking populations in the world. The habit is overwhelmingly male-dominated, with Bidis (cheap & hand-rolled tobacco sticks) being more popular in comparison to cigarettes.

Even so, the sheer size of India's billion population means that millions of women are smokers. While the numbers of use of tobacco - smoking, smokeless ...