Govt shelves plan on countrywide ban on single-use plastic products

The plan was for Prime Minister Narendra Modi to outlaw six items on Wednesday as part of a broader campaign to rid India of single-use plastics by 2022.

India has held off imposing a blanket ban on single-use plastics to combat pollution, officials said on Tuesday, a measure seen as too disruptive for industry at a time when it is coping with an economic slowdown and job losses.

The plan was for Prime Minister Narendra Modi to outlaw six items on Wednesday, the 150th anniversary of the birth of independence leader Mahatma Gandhi, as part of a broader campaign to rid India of single-use plastics by 2022. But two officials said there would be no immediate move to ban plastic bags, cups, plates, small bottles, straws and certain