An Indian woman is in a stable condition in a hospital in the northern state Haryana after doctors removed a tumour larger than the size of a football from her ovary on Monday, a medical officer said.

The tumour, weighing 22 kilogrammes (48 pounds), was removed from Suresha Singh's during a three-hour operation at the Post Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences in Rohtak, 70 kilometers (43 miles) from New Delhi.

Head doctor Savita Rani Singhal said the 45-year-old patient had been living with the non-cancerous tumour for six years because her husband had told her she would die if she had it operated on.

"It was made of solid tissue and was the largest I have come across in all the medical books or journals," Singhal told AFP.

"Suresha could not breathe or even walk properly because of the tumour. She had stopped stepping out of the house.

"But after the surgery she is eating well and should make a full recovery in a ten days," Singhal added.