Explained: Why Modi government banned e-cigarettes in India

NEW DELHI: On Wednesday, the government of Narendra Modi had announced that it has taken the decision of banning the sale, storage and manufacture of e-cigarettes.

The Union Finance Minister, Nirmala Sitharaman had said, the decision was taken following the recommendations of a Group of Ministers (GoM), headed by her.

In India, implementation of the ban shall force, consumption, production, manufacturing, import, export, transport, sale, distribution, storage and advertisement of e-cigarettes illegal.

Within the years 2016-16 and 2018-19, India had imported E-cigarettes worth $1,91,781.

Nirmala Sitharaman by justifying the ban had said, "E-cigarettes were promoted as a way to get people out of their smoking habits but reports have shown that many people are not using it as [a] weaning mechanism but are rather addicted to it."

The government in a statement said, "These novel products come with attractive appearances and multiple flavours and their use has increased exponentially and has acquired epidemic proportions in developed countries, especially among youth and children."

It said the ban on e-cigarettes will help "protect the population, especially the youth and children, from the risk of addiction through e-cigarettes".