India Rejects E-Cigarette Ban Relaxation, Blow to Philip Morris' IQOS Push

• India's Union Health Ministry confirms no plans to revoke or amend the 2019 ban on e-cigarettes and heat-not-burn tobacco products.
• The decision is a significant setback for Philip Morris International, which lobbied extensively to introduce its IQOS device in India.
• Philip Morris executives engaged with Indian officials and a parliamentary health panel, advocating for scientific evidence on IQOS's reduced harm.
• Despite Philip Morris's claims of IQOS being less harmful, India remains committed to evidence-based tobacco control.
• India is the world's seventh-largest cigarette market, with tobacco use causing over a million deaths annually.