ITC Ltd. has opted for 100% local sourcing of bamboos sticks which are used in its agarbattis.
ITC’s Mangaldeep brand has a significant share in the ₹7,400 crore agarbattis market of India which has been seen CAGR of 9% for the last two years.
A bulk of the bamboo sticks currently used in agarbattis are imported into India mainly from China and Vietnam. The imports are worth ₹450 crore to ₹500 crore a year according to industry officials.
Also a large portion of raw agarbattis (agarbattis without fragrance) are imported into the country by most manufacturers.
However ITC’s agarbatti brand, Mangaldeep is playing a leading role in setting up domestic value chains for its business, company executives said.
Ravi Rayavaram, Chief Executive, Agarbatti and Matches Business, ITC, said, “Our initiatives will support the creation of livelihoods in the country.”
“This initiative supports Prime Minister’s clarion call to be vocal about local. We remain committed to ITC’s larger credo of 'Nation First' by ensuring that Mangaldeep anchors an inclusive domestic value chain that creates and captures larger value in India and empowers farmers in the country,” he said.
He said the company was taking further steps in promoting localisation of the agarbatti value chain.
It has started to procure Indian made agarbatti bamboo sticks from the northeastern India. The company has also planted the species of bamboo required for agarbatti sticks in the northeast to secure a local source of raw material for stick making.
“The stick-making value chain in the country has enormous potential to generate superior incomes for bamboo farmers and to generate livelihoods at various stages in the stick-making value chain across nurseries, plantations, harvesting, logistics, stick manufacturing,” it said.
It plans to target procuring its entire requirement of agarbatti sticks from within the country over the next 12-18 months.
ITC’s Matches and Agarbatti Business is working with the government under the aegis of the ‘National Bamboo Mission’ and has been able to procure from the domestic market at prices similar to the imported sticks.
Till recently both raw battis and agarbatti bamboo sticks were imported into the country. But the government brought raw battis under the restricted category list for imports in October 2019.
Hence, raw batti imports have dropped since then but agarbatti bamboo sticks continue to be imported.
