What are e-cigarettes? Why did the govt ban them?

The NDA Government on Wednesday Sep 18,2019 announced that it has decided to ban the sale, storage and manufacture of e-cigarettes. Announcing the move, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said the decision was taken following recommendations of a Group of Ministers (GoM), headed by her. The Union cabinet has given its nod to ban e-cigarettes in the country.
Once the ban comes into force, consumption, production, manufacturing, import, export, transport, sale, distribution, storage and advertisement of e-cigarettes would become illegal in India.

Justifying the ban, Nirmala Sitharaman 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 said the decision to ban e-cigarettes is aimed at protecting the youth, the section that is most vulnerable to the health hazards of e-cigarettes.

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

Prior to this announcement, 15 states and one Union territory had already banned e-cigarettes. These include: Punjab, Karnataka, Mizoram, Kerala, Jammu & Kashmir, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Jharkhand, Himachal Pradesh, Puducherry, Rajasthan, Meghalaya, Odisha and Nagaland.