Modi’s plastic straw ban leaves Indian consumers thirsty

Plastic straws are attached to many of the Tetra Paks of juices and other beverages sold in India. - Reuters

NEW DELHI (Bloomberg): Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has a reputation for imposing policies suddenly on an unprepared nation, but when he pledged in 2019 to eliminate single-use plastics, food and beverage makers had years to prepare. When the first tranche of items was banned this month, they weren’t ready.

Plastic straws are attached to many of the ubiquitous Tetra Paks of juices and other beverages sold in the country. With 19 single-use plastic items banned from July 1, including the straws, companies such as Dabur India Ltd and Parle Agro Pvt, one of the nation’s largest beverage makers, have been racing to replace them with imported paper versions. Vendors say the change has created a shortage and some stocks of soft drinks boxes have run out.