Tobacco was brought to India by the Portuguese merchant in 1508 and its cultivation started in the Western Coastal region of the country. With 6, 46,000 tons of annual production (1997-98) India is today the third leading producer of tobacco (after USA and China) in the world. Bulk of the country’s production comes from Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka, Bihar and Maharashtra.
Tobacco is utilised for producing cigarettes, cigar, bidies, hookah tobacco, chewing tobacco and snuffs.
Cigarettes
In India cigarette manufacturing industry is in organised form. There are 25 cigarette manufacturing companies producing most of the well-known brands of cigarette in the country. Kolkata, Mumbai, Vadodara, Ghaziabad, Bangalore, Saharanpur, Munger, Allahabad, Jalandhar and Hyderabad are the important centres of cigarette manufacturing in the country.
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The total annual capacity is about 9,648 crores of cigarettes. Over half of the cigarette leaf produced in the country is purchased by the Indian Leaf Tobacco Development Company for sale in domestic market and export. During 1975-76 the total value of cigarette export was Rs. 5.3 crores. U.K., Russia, UAR, Germany and Japan are the main importers of the Indian cigarettes. A Cigarette Tobacco Research Station has been set up at Guntur (Andhra Pradesh) to improve the quality of the products.
Cigar
Dindigul, Chennai and Tiruchchirappalli in Tamil Nadu are the main centers of cigar making in the country. Recently its manufacturing has also been started in West Bengal and Orissa. Mostly Virginia tobacco from Guntur and Tiruchchirappalli areas is preferred in cigar making. The quality of the cigar depends upon the leaf is wrapped on it. The process of cigar main involves rolling, pasting the stipends and heating at 150° to 160° of temperature to ensure safety from insects.
Bidi
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Bidi is a poor man’s cigarette. Bidi making is a popular cottage industry in many parts of the country. Important centres are Jabalpur, Gondia, Nagpur, Kamptee, Bhandara, Pune, Sinner (Nashik), Nipani (Belgaum), Bhind and Mangalore. In Madhya Pradesh bidi making is a flourishing industry. Cheap tobacoo with mixtures is used for bidi making. Most of this tobacco comes from Kheda and Vadodara districts of Gujarat and Belgaum district of Karnataka. Inferior variety of tabacco from Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Andhra Pradesh and South Karnataka is also mixed up in small quantities.
Leaves of tendu (Diospyros melanoxylon) and kachnal (Bauhinia racemosa), found in the forests of M idhya Pradesh, Orissa and Tamil Nadu are used as wrapping material. The annual production is around 700 crore bidis. India exported 5,800 kg of bidies valued at Rs. 3.2 crores in 1975-76 to Asian, African and European countries.
Cheroot
Tamil Nadu (Chennai and Tiruchchirappalli) is important for cheroot industry in the country. The industry utilises superior quality tobacco mostly obtained from Tiruchchirappalli district of Tamil Nadu. The average annual production is about 2,500 crore cheroots.
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Hookah Tobacco
It is an important smoke for rural folk in North India. There are two types of hookah tobacco: (i) mitha, and (ii) kadwa which are prepared by mixing the cured tobacco leaves with jelly obtained from semi-used molasses. Delhi, Lucknow, Gorakhpur and Rampur are important centers of manufacturing hookah tobacco.
Chewing Tobacco
Zarda, Qiwami, Danedar, Pan Masala are the important varieties of chewing tobaccos available in the market. To make chewing tobacco leaves are soaked in the lime water, dried, mixed with scents and chemicals. Recently chewing pan masala is gaining popularity in youngsters and lower section of the society both in urban and rural areas. The harmful chemicals used in such pan masalas have increased the occurrence of deadly mouth and throat diseases including cancer. Delhi, Kanpur, Lucknow and Varanasi are main centers.
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The Central Tobacco Research Institute, Rajahmundry conducts fundamental research on tobacco. Similarly there are specialised research institutes for cigarette at Guntur, for Bidi at Anand, for cigar and cheroot at Dindigul, for chewing tobacco at Pusa (Bihar), and for hookah and snuff tobacco at Firozpur.