Some 70 percent of those people will die before they reach the age of 70 and if the Indian government does not take any action, the smoking death toll will rise further.
The researchers also added that smoking could soon account for 20 percent of all male deaths and 5 percent of all female deaths between the ages of 30 and 69.
The study, conducted by a team of doctors and scientists from India, Canada and Britain, is the first nationally representative study of smoking habits and associated mortality rates in the Asian nation.
It also found that some 120 million Indians who smoke generally pick up the habit later in life. On average, men who smoke bidi - small hand-rolled cigarettes lose about six years of life. While the life span is shortened by ten years of men who smoke full-size cigarettes.
The figures are based on a survey of deaths among a sample of 1.1 million homes in all parts of India carried out by about 900 field workers.
Dr. Abumani Ramadoss, India's health minister, said, "I am alarmed by the results of this study."
"The government of India is trying to take all steps to control tobacco use - in particular by informing the many poor and illiterate of smoke risks," he added.
