cmenoni

What is the general practice or rules re: smoking in hotel rooms? restaurants? public places? What does a pack of cigarettes cost? Thanks.

MichaelBKK

I can't answer these in detail, but I can say that I was struck by how few Indians smoke when I was there last month. In your room is probably okay, but restaurants would probably be rude.

docgirl2004

Naa you can smoke in public if you are a man in India.

Foreign women can smoke too.

Its frowned upon if Indian women smoke. Thats about it.
It depends on family customs too which are different conservative or liberal depending on family.

sharon1306

In a restaurant, smoking indoors would be considered rude but anywhere outdoors should be ok, including public places. Cigarettes should be cheap but I wouldn't know the exact cost.

harsha

You would'nt have a problem at all.Hardly anyone would object in restaurants,pubs,bars,public places,hotel lobbys/foyers,own room(temples,heritage centers,inside public transport,theatres,museums,
homes etc not included).No one would even notice you.
All good brandsavailable.Benson&
Hedges 20s would cost Rs.75.The same with Marlbouro red,State Express 555.Dunhill & so on
Some of the Indian brands are Classic,Goldflake.Wills etc whicih is also in the range of Rs. 70 for 20s pack.

Cicerone

Smoking in indoor public places has been outlawed for several years in India. If a restaurant has more than 30 seats, they can have a smoking area. However, in restaurants this law sometimes seems to be ignored from what I can see; but as noted above, there are not a lot of smokers in India to begin with, so you would be in a minority if you were to light up in a restaurant.

Hotels larger than 30 rooms can have smoking rooms, but you can’t smoke in lobbies, etc. I would agree that if you light up in a hotel lobby, it is unlikely that you will get asked (by the staff at least) to stop, other hotel guests may ask you to do so. You can smoke outdoors.

All intra-India flights are non-smoking, and airports are smoke-free (there are smoking rooms to the best of my recollection). Also, there are smoking and non-smoking cars on trains.

A packet of Western-brand cigarettes will cost about US$1.50-$2. A package of local hand-rolled Indian cigarettes will cost like 35 cents (not Goldflake, etc mentioned above, which are a brand, I mean hand-rolled and usually without a filter).

harsha

The hand rolled ones are called Bidis.No filter,extremely harsh & pungent.

cmenoni

Thanks for all your helpful responses.