Cardiovascular diseases have emerged as an important health problem in India. High blood pressure (BP) is a major risk factor and better control can lead to prevention of 300,000 of the 1.5 million annual deaths from cardiovascular diseases in India. Epidemiological studies demonstrate that prevalence of hypertension is increasing rapidly among Indian urban populations and using the current definitions more than two-fifths of the Indian urban adult population has hypertension. The prevalence is lower in rural populations, but is increasing. Jaipur Heart Watch (JHW) is an ongoing cross-sectional epidemiological study in western India.