Typical daily smokers of India spend a total of $313 million (~Rs. 1721.5 crores) on cigarettes/bidis every year.
If all these daily smokers donated this expenditure for charity, their cumulative contribution would stand as the 14th largest foundation in the US (a contribution that is ~2.3 times more than what the Rockefeller Foundation makes annually). In fact, this total charitable amount is enough to feed 25.5 million children in absolute poverty with healthy mid-day meals for the whole academic year.
| ASSUMPTIONS | |
| Number of daily cigarette smokers in India: | 29.2 million; |
| Number of daily bidi smokers in India: | 59.4 million; |
| Average monthly expenditure on cigarette by a daily smoker: | Rs 399; |
| Average monthly expenditure on bidi by a daily smoker: | Rs 93.4; |
| (Source: Global Adult Tobacco Survey, India, 2009-10) | |
| Donation amount enough to feed a child for entire year: | Rs 675; |
| (Source: NGO in India – Food for Children | Feeding 1.3 million Children – Akshaya Patra. (n.d.). Retrieved November 25, 2012, from http://www.akshayapatra.org/) | |
| The Rockefeller Foundation annual giving: | $139.4 million; |
| (Source: Foundation Center - Top 100 US Foundations by Total Giving. (n.d.). Retrieved November 25, 2012, from http://foundationcenter.org/findfunders/topfunders/top100giving.html) | |
| Number of children in India: | 400 million; |
| Percentage of India children in absolute poverty: | 60%; |
| (Source: BBC NEWS | South Asia | “Half Asian children” in poverty. (n.d.). Retrieved November 25, 2012, from http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/4174012.stm) | |