Hyderabad: The sale of e-cigarettes is on the rise as more than five national companies of e-cigarettes, based in the city, are hardselling the product by advertised the health benefits of these alternatives to cigarettes.

Each e-cigarette refill is priced anywhere between Rs 3,000-5,000 while there are also ‘use and throw’ e-cigarettes that cost around Rs 300.

“They are cleaner and healthier,” said, Mr Praveen Dasari, adding, “There is no staining and after-smell as compared to a regular cigarette; I have stopped smoking normal cigarettes completely.”

Concerned about the health of their loved ones, girlfriends, spouses, children are gifting these e-cigarettes to their boyfriends, partners and parents.

A young man, who is a doctor in the city, said, “I was gifted the e-cigarette by my girlfriend. Lot of CO2 that is inhaled by smoking regular cigarettes is not there in these e-cigarettes. That basically means I would not get cancer. And I intend to reduce the nicotine liquid used in e-cigarettes over a period of time.”

He adds, “I also suggested e-cigarettes to my fellow doctor colleagues and friends who smoke. We also communicate over WhatsApp groups to suggest it to other friends who smoke.”

NRI Mr S. Anand Mohan, who is based in the USA, has gifted his father in Hyderabad e-cigarettes from the US. “I have often tried to get rid of his (father’s) addiction. So finally I presented him an e-cigarette hoping to limit the damage.”

E-cigarettes manufacutring companies in city say the sales have gone up in the last five years due to increasing awareness. However, medical experts opine that the e-cigarettes are not completely safe.

“E-cigarettes are basically designed to reduce the damage caused by regular cigarettes. The liquid used in it, which contains nicotine, is an addiction-causing agent.

However, cobalt, thorium and other heavy metals found in tar are not present in e-cigarettes,” said Dr C. Vijay Kumar, pulmonologist, Yashoda Hospital.