Overview Of The Incense Market In India

By Singh Vineet

The market for incense sticks is very vast and the demand for these incense sticks is high even in the far-flung rural areas. The incense industry is driven by factors other than commerce like tradition, superstition and religion...

India has a leadership position in the incense sticks market and fulfills more than half of the world's incense sticks requirements. Export earnings have crossed 220 crore mark while the domestic market is expected to be well over a thousand crores Every year more than 60 billion sticks are produced and the market is growing at a rate of 7% per year.

The incense stick market faces a sudden upsurge in demand during the festive season. Demand from both domestic and international sectors peaks up during festivals like Dassera and Diwali. Some of the popular fragrances that have captured the imagination of consumers both in India and abroad include Archanam - Mogra, Yagyam - Havan, Yogam - Dhoop, Poojanam - Saffron, Dhyanam - Sandal, Chintanam - Kasturi, and Shantam - Rose.

Today, the incense industry has not only become a major revenue earner for the Government it has also become a prominent source of employment for women in rural areas. Presently, the incense industry in India is a cottage industry and the market is largely unorganized. Only twenty percent of the market is occupied by organized players while the rest is controlled by small operators. The government needs to pay urgent attention to this industry if it wants the industry to retain its leadership position in the industry.

The incense stick industry has also promoted social entrepreneurship in the rural and semi urban areas as more and more people have acquired the confidence to start their own businesses. Some reputed Indian corporate have taken the lead in promoting this trend by training rural women in bamboo cutting, incense rolling, raw incense sorting, perfuming and packaging of incense sticks. The entry of corporate has helped in mechanization at each step of the manufacturing process. Earlier rural women used to cut bamboo with an axe leading to injuries. This process has been done away with the introduction of bamboo cutting machines.

Though mechanization was brought into this industry by, the early 1990's experience has shown that industrially manufactured incense sticks cannot match the fragrance produced by hand made incense sticks. This is because hand made incense sticks are made from medicinal aromatic herbs and fragrance oils extracted from aromatic flowers. The net result of this being that the incense stick industry has become a major source of employment to women in the rural areas.

Author is a contributor writer for Indian Herbal products, for more products on nag champa incense like auroshikha incense, nag champa oil visit Aggarwaloverseas.