Did you know that for every Rs 100 received as excise taxes from tobacco products, the Indian economy loses Rs 816? According to the study, Economic Costs of Diseases and Deaths Attributable to Tobacco Use in India, 2017–2018, the economic cost from all diseases and deaths attributable to tobacco use for persons over 35 years between 2017 and 2018 was USD 27.5 billion (INR 1,773.4 billion). Published in a journal by Oxford Academic, this paper also says that during the same time frame, the tax revenue from tobacco was 12.2% of its economic costs, smoking contributed 74%, and smokeless tobacco use (SLT) contributed 26% of the costs. The economic burden of diseases and premature deaths attributable to smoking and SLT use by persons over 35 years of age in India represents more than 1% of India's gross domestic product. The direct health expenditure on treating tobacco-related diseases alone accounts for 5.3% of total private and public health spending in India annually—a drain on both the public health system and the economy that no country can afford. In India, tobacco-related cancers accounted for 27% of the country’s cancer burden in 2020, according to the Indian Council of Medical Research. With nearly 29% of adults using tobacco, India is the second leading consumer of tobacco products after China. The result is a catastrophic death toll of close to 1.35 million preventable deaths per year.