Kovilpatti match box units lose market to competition
Safety match industry in Kovilpatti, which was enjoying a monopoly status in the domestic market till two years back, is fighting against odds for its very survival owing to severe competition and other factors.
This traditional industry is gradually becoming a loss-making business.
Match sticks are produced in semi-mechanised and a handful of fully mechanised units in Kovilpatti.
M. Paramasivam, president, National Small Match Manufacturers’ Association, told The Hindu on Thursday that things had come to such a pass that the producers could not even pay Deepavali bonus to workers.
He attributed the slump in the market to emergence of semi-mechanised units in northern States.
Mr. Paramasivam said that traders from Pune, Mumbai, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Assam and Haryana used to frequent Kovilpatti to buy match boxes. But not any more, since they can buy them from units nearer home at a lesser cost.
Since Kovilpatti manufacturers incurred high production and labour costs, they were unable to compete with their counterparts in north India.
“The price of a bundle of 600 match boxes has come down to Rs.270 this year from Rs. 290 last year,” Mr. Paramasivam said.
There are 120 semi-mechanised units, 10 fully mechanised units and 600 packing units in Kovilpatti. Around 1.50 lakh workers rely on this industry directly and 50,000 more indirectly.
The safety match industry, which was under the category of handmade industry in 1924, was classified as cottage industry in 1976. The match units have evolved into semi-mechanised and fully mechanised units over the years.
The export market for match boxes also presents a sorry state as Kovilpatti finds itself no match for Pakistan where match boxes are manufactured at a lower cost and sold to importers at low prices.
Switch to Sweden
Many importers from European countries have switched their loyalty to Sweden where match box producers maintain high quality standards.
In such a bleak scenario, the Kovilpatti match box manufacturers looked for support from State and Central governments to resurrect the industry.
Mr. Paramasivam said that very few units got government subsidy meant for rural industries and for installing generators.
