NewDelhi : The government of Indian has banned e-cigarettes in India. The decision was taken at the Cabinet meeting chaired by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi here. The ban means production, manufacturing, import, export, transport, sale, distribution, storage and advertising related to e-cigarettes are now banned following this order, said Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.
Sitharaman, who had headed a Group of Ministers (GoM) on the issue, said the Cabinet decided to ban e-cigarettes and similar products as they pose health risk to people, especially the youth. The ban on e-cigarettes is expected to have a budgetary impact of Rs 2,028 crore.
The government would promulgate an ordinance to ban e-cigarettes in India in the immediate future and subsequently a bill will be presented on both the houses in the next session of the Parliament.
“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 weaning mechanism but are addicted to it,” said Sitharaman while announcing the government decision to put a ban on e-cigarettes.
The minister added, “Reports say that there are some who are probably getting into the habit of e-cigarettes as it seems cool. It is believed that there are more than 400 brands, none of which is manufactured in India. And they come in over 150 flavours.”