Despite FDI ban, Philip Morris paid Indian partner to make cigarettes

The Indian government in 2010 prohibited foreign direct investment in cigarette manufacturing, saying the measure would enhance its efforts to curb smoking

Philip Morris International Inc has for years paid manufacturing costs to its Indian partner to make its Marlboro cigarettes, circumventing a nine-year-old government ban on foreign direct investment in the industry, internal company documents reviewed by Reuters showed.

The Indian government in 2010 prohibited foreign direct investment (FDI) in cigarette manufacturing, saying the measure would enhance its efforts to curb smoking.

Restricting foreign investment leaves cigarette manufacturing largely in the hands of domestic players, and is supposed to prevent any foreign-funded expansion. A year after the government's decision, Japan Tobacco exited India, citing an "unsustainable business model".

Philip Morris, though,