The humble incense stick has at last been given its due. It has now been declared a handicraft product under the new duty drawback rates. With the manufacturers' long standing demand being met, a surge in sales is expected.
‘Agarbathi' has been brought under the jurisdiction of the Export Promotion Council for Handicrafts (EPCH) from CHEMEXCIL. The industry can also now get duty refund on input costs.
“It has been a long-pending demand of exporters since agarbathi, as a handicraft product, has synergy with products such as gifts, decoratives, housewares and other handicrafts.This step will not only boost exports of handicrafts, but also bring additional orders of at least Rs 500 crore for the sector,” Mr Raj Kumar Malhotra, Chairman, EPCH, said.
The agarbathi market in India is estimated at Rs 1,000-1,200 crore.
The exports have risen from 2,056 million tonnes in 2005-06 to 3,509 m.t. in 2007-08.
Mr Rakesh Kumar, Executive Director of the Council, said, “the move would certainly increase the confidence of handicrafts exporters and strengthen their belief which may help them enhance handicrafts exports.”
Source : Business Line