According to the final notification issued by the Union health ministry, 40 percent of the space on tobacco packing will have to carry the warnings.

The announcement also said that the warnings given in pictures will be changed after every 12 months.

At the same time as the caution "Smoking Kills" on cigarette and beedi products and "Tobacco Kills" on smokeless or chewing tobacco products will be shown in white font having a red background, each specific health message will be in bold black font with a white background.

The notification said, “Each health warning has been specified in English and regional languages. Not more than two languages can be used on a single pack. Every person engaged directly or indirectly in the production, supply, import and distribution of tobacco products should ensure that every package has the specified health warning. The warnings will have to occupy 40% of the principal display area of the pack. None of the elements of the specified warning are severed, covered or hidden in any manner when the packet is sealed. No package can be sold unless it carries the health warnings.”

Health experts said that the gentle pictorial warnings would shoot down its purpose of frightening off smokers and discouraging them from this deadly habit.

Health minister Anbumani Ramadoss wanted dreadful pics like those depicting gory images of cancerous tumours, rotting teeth and diseased throats that would make smokers quit.

Poonam Singh, deputy regional director of World Health Organisation, southeast Asia, told the Times of India that in India, there was widespread ignorance about the risks of smoking.

"Ill effects of smoking appear slowly. So unless diseases like tuberculosis and lung cancer strike, people don't accept that smoking is dangerous," Singh added.