Reportedly the union Cabinet has given approval to ban e-cigarettes, announced Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Wednesday. Perhaps the ban means production, manufacturing, import, export, transport, sale, distribution, storage and advertising related to e-cigarettes are now banned following this order.
Meanwhile the ban on e-cigarettes is expected to have a budgetary impact of Rs 2,028 crore. Nirmala Sitharaman while announcing the government decision to put a ban on e-cigarettes 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 weaning mechanism but are addicted to it”.
Moreover 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 flavors." Perhaps 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.
