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India Rules Out E-Cigarette Ban Relaxation, Dealing Blow To Philip Morris' IQOS Push: Report
India Rules Out E-Cigarette Ban Relaxation, Dealing Blow To Philip Morris' IQOS Push: Report
India has ruled out any relaxation of its ban on e-cigarettes, including heat-not-burn tobacco products, dealing a setback to a sustained lobbying campaign by tobacco giant Philip Morris International, according to a Reuters report.
Citing a response from the Union Health Ministry to queries from Reuters, the report said the government has no plans to revisit the 2019 prohibition.
“The government of India is not considering revoking, amending or relaxing this ban," the health ministry said, according to Reuters.
“India remains committed to evidence-based tobacco control and cessation measures," it added, noting that the existing law explicitly prohibits heat-not-burn devices and that the position would remain unchanged.
India banned e-cigarettes, including heated tobacco products, in 2019. The country is the world's seventh-largest cigarette market by volume, with more than 100 billion cigarettes sold annually. Tobacco use kills over a million people in India each year.
The decision is a blow to Philip Morris International, the world's most valuable tobacco company, which had hoped India would open its market to its flagship heated tobacco device, IQOS. The company maintains that IQOS is less harmful than traditional cigarettes.
According to Reuters, a review of confidential company letters from 2021 to 2025 showed that the Marlboro maker privately lobbied senior Indian officials and a parliamentary health panel to consider the scientific evidence behind devices like IQOS and to exempt heat-not-burn products from the ban.
Philip Morris executives also met state government officials in Davos in January to discuss long-term opportunities in the tobacco sector using products such as IQOS, photographs on LinkedIn showed, Reuters reported.
A spokesperson for Philip Morris did not directly comment on the ministry's statement but said the company “regularly engages with governments around the world, including at major international forums such as Davos, to discuss how smoke-free products can greatly advance public health".
In an interview with Reuters, Chief Executive Jacek Olczak said he had engaged with various stakeholders in India and described it as “illogical" for the country to keep the market closed to smoking alternatives such as heated tobacco and vapes while continuing to allow conventional cigarettes.
It remains unclear whether any other tobacco companies are lobbying against the ban. Philip Morris says it holds a 76% share of the global heated tobacco market.
Launched in 2014, IQOS has more than 35 million users worldwide and was sold in 79 markets last year, with about 151 billion IQOS units sold in 2025. The device has gained traction in countries such as Japan and is seen by analysts as a key growth driver for the company as cigarette volumes decline in several markets.
According to Euromonitor estimates cited by Reuters, Philip Morris increased its share of India's cigarette market to 7.6% in 2024 from 1.75% in 2019.
Its rival, British American Tobacco, holds a stake in ITC Limited, which dominates India's cigarette market.
Some regulators, including the US Food and Drug Administration, have concluded that IQOS may benefit public health if smokers switch completely from cigarettes. However, the World Health Organization has cautioned about the risks posed by heated tobacco products.
According to Reuters, Philip Morris ran a four-year campaign to persuade Indian authorities and a parliamentary panel to reconsider the ban. In one 2023 letter, Ankur Modi, then the company's chief strategy officer, urged India to explore harm reduction approaches for smoking, “similar to harm reduction policy for HIV/AIDS", such as condom promotion.
The company also proposed bringing scientists and former US FDA officials to present data and global experience demonstrating how such devices “improve lives".
In a November letter cited by Reuters, Philip Morris said it was “deeply committed to, and invested in the future of India" and called for a review of scientific evidence on heated tobacco products by the Indian Council of Medical Research.
However, the state-run ICMR told Reuters it was “not considering or undertaking any research on heated tobacco products".
Reuters said it is the first to report India's decision to maintain the ban and the details of Philip Morris' lobbying efforts.
Source: News18
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