Health campaigners Wednesday welcomed India's unprecedented plans to raise the age for tobacco purchases to 25 and ban unpackaged cigarette sales, calling them a major step towards stopping nearly one million tobacco-related deaths a year.
India, with a population of 1.2 billion, would have the world's highest minimum legal age for buying cigarettes if plans to increase the limit from 18 to 25 were implemented, according to campaigners.
The plans, proposed by an expert panel, were announced by health minister J. P. Nadda in parliament on Tuesday and will need final approval by Prime Minister Narendra Modi's cabinet as well as parliament before becoming law.
"This is a very welcome move by the government," Binoy Mathew, spokesman for the non-profit Voluntary Health Association of India, told AFP.
"It's going to act as a huge deterrent, especially for students and youngsters."
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