New Delhi: Philip Morris International (PMI), the makers of Marlboro cigarettes, has announced that it will stop manufacturing cigarettes and replace them with alternatives such as e-cigarettes.


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“We’ve built the world’s most successful cigarette company, with the world’s most popular and iconic brands,” Philip Morris website said.


“We will be far more than a leading cigarette company. We’re building PMI’s future on smoke-free products that are a much better choice than cigarette smoking. Indeed, our vision – for all of us at PMI – is that these products will one day replace cigarettes,” it wrote.


The company had placed advertisements in major newspapers in UK last week with a New Year’s resolution: “We’re trying to give up cigarettes.”


The newspaper advertisement also said,"No cigarette company has done anything like this before. You might wonder if we really mean it."


PMI has also launched a new website, smokefreefuture.co.uk encouraging its UK customers to quit smoking.


The global tobacco major in October had said it will fund proposals under its $100 million global initiative to support third-party projects dedicated to the fight against illegal trade.


The company established its PMI Impact initiative to support projects dedicated to fighting illegal trade and related crimes, such as corruption, organised crime and money laundering.


Private, public or non-governmental organisations have been invited to submit applications to avail funding under the second round of PMI Impact, the company said in a statement.


PMI has pledged $100 million across three funding rounds of PMI Impact.


In the first funding round of the initiative, 32 projects were selected from 200 proposals.