Indian Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharam addresses a press conference to announce the cabinet decision to ban e-cigarettes in New Delhi, September 18, 2019. (Photo: VCG)

India banned the sale of electronic cigarettes on Wednesday and warned of an "epidemic" among young people, in the latest and potentially biggest move globally against vaping over growing health concerns.

The ban cuts off a huge future market from e-cigarette makers at a time when the number of people smoking worldwide is declining. It could dash the expansion plans of companies such as Juul Labs and Philip Morris International (PM.N) in the country.

"These novel products come with attractive appearances and multiple flavors and their use has increased exponentially and acquired epidemic proportions in developed countries, especially among youth and children," India's health ministry said.

The ban also covers the production, import and advertising of e-cigarettes, but not the use of them. It comes at a time when vaping is facing increased scrutiny in other countries.

The United States last week announced plans to remove flavored e-cigarettes from stores, warning that sweet flavors had drawn millions of children into nicotine addiction.

The Indian prohibition will be imposed through an executive order and will include jail terms of up to three years for offenders.

India has 106 million adult smokers, second only to China in the world, making it a lucrative market for companies making vaping products such as US-based Juul and Philip Morris, which manufactures a heat-not-burn tobacco device.

The ban was announced by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman at a news conference, where she showed various types of products to the media, including a Juul vaping device, which resembles a USB flash drive.

Juul reportedly had plans to launch its e-cigarette in India and has hired several senior executives in recent months. Philip Morris is also reported to have plans to launch its heat-not-burn smoking device in India.

India's vapor-products market was valued at 57 million US dollars in 2018, according to data from Euromonitor International. Before the ban, the research group estimated the market in India would grow by nearly 60 percent a year up to 2022.

Shane MacGuill, head of tobacco research at Euromonitor in London, said that the India ban could push other countries to follow suit, hurting the global vapor industry.