கோசாலை / நன்கொடை
Quick answer — Agarbatti is made by rolling a paste onto thin bamboo sticks, drying them and, for plain sticks, dipping them in perfume. A paste of wood powder or charcoal, or both, is mixed with jigat, a bark binder, and water. The paste is rolled onto the sticks by hand on wooden boards or by machine, and the sticks are dried. Unscented "raw" sticks are then dipped in diluted perfume, while masala sticks already carry their scent in the paste. Finally they are dried again and packed. The Indian industry is estimated at about 8,000 crore rupees a year, and its first dedicated standard, IS 19412:2025, was released in December 2025.
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One stick, often three sets of hands
The stick you light at the evening lamp has usually passed through three separate businesses before it reaches you.
- The bamboo stick maker, often in Tripura or Assam, who turns bamboo into thin round splints. For years many of these splints were imported instead.
- The roller, very often a woman working at home, who coats the splint with paste and dries it into an unscented "raw" stick.
- The brand, which buys raw sticks, perfumes them, and packs them under its own name.
A 2010 study cited by Wikipedia counted about 5,000 incense companies working this way, taking raw sticks hand-rolled by roughly 200,000 women part-time at home. That chain explains most of what follows: the trade measures of 2019 and 2020, the machines handed out from 2020, and what "Made in India" on a box can and cannot tell you.
How agarbatti is made in India, step by step
Agarbatti is made in seven steps: cutting bamboo sticks, preparing the powders, mixing the paste, rolling it onto the sticks, drying, perfuming, and packing. Masala sticks take their scent at the mixing step; dipped sticks take it at the perfuming step.
- Cutting the bamboo sticks. Bamboo is cut and split into thin round splints, which become the core and the handle. In a 2021 survey of more than 100 stick makers in Tripura, Bambusa tulda was the most preferred species; an older Down To Earth report named muli bamboo, Melocanna baccifera, as the most used at the time. Beauty Without Cruelty India gives the usual length as 6 to 12 inches. The splints are cut, split and rounded with hand tools or machines.
- Preparing the powders. The base is charcoal dust, wood powder or sawdust, or a mix of these. The binder is jigat, the powdered bark of Litsea glutinosa, which Beauty Without Cruelty says is also sold as patta, makko or bummi powder. For a masala stick, ground aromatics go in now: sandalwood and other wood powders, resins such as halmaddi, herbs and sometimes honey.
- Mixing the paste. The powders are kneaded with water into a sticky dough, by hand or in a powder-mixing machine. One government model recipe is 40% white wood powder, 20% jigat, 20% charcoal and 20% aromatics and oils, though the same profile notes that recipes vary.
- Rolling. By hand, the dough is rolled onto sticks laid on slanting wooden boards, covering three-quarters or more of the stick and leaving the bare end to hold. While still moist, the coated stick is often rolled in fine wood powder, which gives it a dry, even skin. An experienced home roller makes about 3,000 to 4,000 raw sticks a day. By machine, an automatic agarbatti machine makes about 80 kg of sticks a day with four people working it.
- Drying. The sticks are spread out and dried, traditionally in the sun and over several days, then counted and tied into bundles. At this stage an unscented stick is a finished raw stick, ready to sell on to a perfumer.
- Perfuming. Concentrated perfume is diluted, and the raw sticks are dipped in it or sprayed, then stood upright to dry. A government project profile gives about one part perfume to three parts white oil or diethyl phthalate (DEP); Beauty Without Cruelty gives one part fragrance to two parts oil. This step is usually done at the factory rather than by the roller. Masala sticks skip it, or get only a brief dip.
- Packing. The dried sticks are wrapped in wax paper or sealed in plastic and boxed. The box must carry the declarations required by India's packaging rules, including who made or packed the product.
How is masala agarbatti made differently?
For a masala stick the fragrance goes into the dough itself, so the aromatic powders, resins and oils are mixed in at step three and the perfume dip at step six is skipped or kept brief. Champa styles use halmaddi, the resin of Ailanthus triphysa, as a fragrant binder. Because halmaddi hardens as it ages, some makers add honey to keep the paste pliable. How masala sticks compare with dipped, dhoop and bambooless sticks is set out in our guide to the types of agarbatti.
How are dhoop and bambooless sticks made?
Dhoop has no bamboo core, so step one disappears. A thicker paste is rolled, extruded or shaped into sticks or cones and dried. That method is the older one: the bamboo-core stick began in India in the late nineteenth century and largely replaced the rolled and extruded forms, which survive in dhoop.
What raw materials go into an agarbatti?
An agarbatti has three parts: a bamboo stick, a base paste of charcoal dust or wood powder bound with jigat, and fragrance, either ground into the paste or added as liquid perfume. The table lists each material and what it does.
| Material | What it does | What to know |
|---|---|---|
| Bamboo stick | Core and handle | Bambusa tulda is the most preferred species in Tripura's survey. India's 1992 tentative standard capped the bare end at 20% of the stated length. |
| Charcoal dust | Fuel; an absorbent base for dipped sticks | Absent from charcoal-free sticks. Masala sticks can contain it too. |
| Wood powder or sawdust | Base and filler; soaks up perfume | Sawdust from Machilus hardwood is used for absorbent "punk" blanks. |
| Jigat | Binder; a water-soluble natural adhesive | Bark of Litsea glutinosa. A Kerala Forest Research Institute group says its supply "is depleting very fast", and KFRI has patented an alternative binder. |
| Halmaddi | Fragrant binder in champa sticks | Resin of Ailanthus triphysa. Karnataka banned extraction by the 1990s and allowed leased tapping again in 2011. |
| Aromatics | Scent | Wood powders, resins, herbs and essential oils, or perfume compounds. A "sandalwood" stick may be scented with aroma chemicals rather than the wood. |
| Perfume diluent | Carries perfume into a dipped stick | White oil or diethyl phthalate (DEP), according to the government project profile. |
| Burning aid | Helps the stick keep smouldering | Beauty Without Cruelty records "a little saltpeter" (potassium nitrate) in some masala pastes. |
IS 19412:2025 also says what must not go in. It bans eight substances: the insecticides allethrin, permethrin, cypermethrin, deltamethrin and fipronil, and benzyl cyanide, ethyl acrylate and diphenylamine. What "charcoal-free" does and does not tell you about these ingredients is covered in charcoal-free agarbatti: what it means and how to check, and the sandalwood question in our chandan agarbatti guide.
Where is agarbatti made in India?
Karnataka is India's main centre, often called the "agarbathi capital", with Mysuru and Bengaluru as the hubs for scented agarbatti. India's own bamboo sticks come mainly from the North-East, though imports long supplied a large share, and the fragrance trade has strong links to Kannauj.
- Karnataka: Mysuru and Bengaluru are the main manufacturing centres for scented sticks, and the Mysuru region is recognised as the pioneer of the trade. The manufacturers' association says Karnataka alone employs around 10 lakh women in rolling, packing and bamboo processing.
- Gaya, Bihar: Wikipedia's account of Indian incense describes Gaya as having been the hub for unscented sticks, and notes many makers in Maharashtra and Gujarat serving western India.
- Tripura and Assam: the main sources of bamboo sticks. Tripura's Industries Department says the state meets 60% of India's need for agarbatti sticks, a figure we could not check against a second source.
- Kannauj, Uttar Pradesh: India's perfume town. Its Fragrance and Flavour Development Centre was one of the bodies that helped draft the new agarbatti standard. Its rose attar tradition is described in our rose agarbatti guide.
What is the Mysore Agarbathi GI?
"Mysore Agarbathi" is a registered Geographical Indication, and one of India's earliest. The All India Agarbathi Manufacturers Association filed application number 13 on 11 August 2004, in Class 3, and GI Certificate No. 7 was issued on 2 June 2005.
The registry lists 11 authorised users, and only their products should be called Mysore Agarbathi; other sticks can fairly be described as Mysore-style. The tradition behind the name is older than the GI. According to Wikipedia, citing a UNIDO cluster study, the Maharaja of Mysore patronised agarbatti production, and after the sticks won a certificate of merit at the Wembley (British Empire) Exhibition, the Mysore state gave them as gifts to foreign guests. The old Bangalore name for the sticks, and the names used in every Indian language today, are gathered in agarbatti meaning in English, Tamil, Telugu and Kannada.
How big is India's agarbatti industry?
The Consumer Affairs Ministry estimated the Indian agarbatti industry at about 8,000 crore rupees a year in December 2025, with exports of about 1,200 crore rupees a year to more than 150 countries.
| Measure | Figure | Source and year |
|---|---|---|
| Size of the industry | About 8,000 crore rupees a year | Consumer Affairs Ministry, December 2025, as reported |
| Exports | About 1,200 crore rupees a year, to 150+ countries | Same; Deccan Herald names the US, Malaysia, Nigeria, Brazil and Mexico as major markets |
| Daily consumption vs production | About 1,490 tonnes used, 760 tonnes made | PIB, August 2020; the gap was met mainly by imports from China and Vietnam |
| People employed | Over 20 lakh, about 80% of them women | All India Agarbathi Manufacturers Association, 2018; an industry estimate, not a government count |
| Women in Karnataka alone | Around 10 lakh | Same association |
India is the world's largest producer of agarbatti. The ministry also calls it the largest exporter, but Wikipedia's account says India held that place only until 2015, after years of lower import tariffs under the ASEAN free-trade agreement. We report both and leave the exporter title with the ministry.
How many people work in agarbatti?
Nobody knows precisely. The manufacturers' association's figure of over 20 lakh workers, about 80% of them women, is the one most often quoted. Other estimates differ widely: YourStory has given close to four lakh, again about 80% women, and a 2010 study cited by Wikipedia counted about 200,000 women rolling part-time at home. We found no government head-count. Treat any single number as an estimate from whoever made it.
Who rolls India's agarbatti?
Most raw agarbatti has long been rolled by women, many of them working at home and paid by the thousand sticks; machines have been taking over a growing share of the work.
The work is steady and exacting. A Bengaluru roller interviewed by The News Minute in 2019 said she made "3,000 or 4,000" sticks a day, matching the figure in Wikipedia's account. The same report found rollers earning well below Karnataka's minimum rate for the work as machines took over. Beauty Without Cruelty, writing about the trade more broadly, describes most production as contracted out to home workers in poorer neighbourhoods.
The shift to machines changes how the work is done rather than ending it. Government schemes since 2020 have put automatic and pedal-operated machines in the hands of artisans, so that a small team can run a machine instead of rolling every stick by hand. When you read "hand-rolled" or "machine-made" on a pack, those words now map onto the categories in India's new standard, described below.
Why did India restrict agarbatti imports in 2019?
To curb imports of cheap raw sticks and bring the work back to Indian artisans, in the government's account. On 31 August 2019 the Directorate General of Foreign Trade moved agarbatti imports from "Free" to "Restricted", which means an importer needs a licence.
The background goes back to 2011. The Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC) says a cut in import duty from 30% to 10% that year, under the ASEAN free-trade agreement, led to the closure of nearly 25% of India's agarbatti units. Raw sticks from China and Vietnam filled the gap. PTI reported imports of about US$17.75 million in April to June 2019 alone, mainly from those two countries.
DGFT Notification No. 15/2015-2020 then changed the import policy for "Agarbatti and other odoriferous preparations which operate by burning" (ITC-HS 33074100) and the related "Other" heading (33074900). A 2022 press release from the Press Information Bureau explains that the change came at KVIC's request, "to restrict the import of raw Agarbatti". Restricted is not banned. We found no later notification reversing it, but check the current DGFT schedule before calling it in force.
What changed for bamboo sticks in 2020?
The import duty on round bamboo sticks for agarbatti went up from 10% to 25%, under Customs Notification No. 27/2020, dated 9 June 2020.
KVIC said imports of bamboo sticks had risen from about 210 crore rupees in 2018-19 to 370 crore rupees in 2019-20, a single statement carried by two outlets. The Press Information Bureau presents the duty rise, alongside the 2019 import restriction, as support for Indian agarbatti and stick makers. The restructured National Bamboo Mission, a centrally sponsored scheme launched in 2018, added a management information system in May 2021 to track agarbatti stick units, raw material and production capacity.
What is the Khadi Agarbatti Aatmanirbhar Mission?
The Khadi Agarbatti Aatmanirbhar Mission is a KVIC scheme, approved by MSME Minister Nitin Gadkari on 2 August 2020, that supplies Indian-made automatic agarbatti machines and powder-mixing machines to artisans through private agarbatti manufacturers.
The press release of the Press Information Bureau set out how it works:
- A public–private partnership. Private agarbatti manufacturers act as KVIC's business partners, and the machines reach artisans through them.
- Machines on easy terms. KVIC pays 25% of the machine cost as a subsidy. The other 75% is recovered from the artisan in monthly instalments, after which the artisan owns the machine.
- Training shared. KVIC bears 75% of the training cost and the business partner 25%.
- Output. Each automatic machine makes about 80 kg of agarbatti a day and employs four people. One powder-mixing machine serves five agarbatti machines and employs two.
- Pay. The release worked out that the 2020 job-work rate, paid per kilogram, would give each artisan a set minimum daily earning.
The latest figure we found is from May 2026, when the Press Information Bureau reported that KVIC had distributed 2,674 automatic and pedal-operated agarbatti machines under its Gramodyog Vikas Yojana. Some sources say the 2020 mission has since been folded into that programme, so we do not claim that it still runs as a separate scheme. The scheme's own spelling is "Aatmanirbhar"; some outlets write "Atmanirbhar".
What is IS 19412:2025, the new BIS standard for agarbatti?
IS 19412:2025, "Incense Sticks (Agarbatti) — Specification", is India's first dedicated standard for agarbatti. Consumer Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi released it around National Consumer Day, 24 December 2025.
The standard does four things, as the news reports describe it:
- It sorts agarbatti into three types: machine-made, hand-made and traditional masala.
- It bans eight substances: allethrin (written "alethrin" in some reports), permethrin, cypermethrin, deltamethrin, fipronil, benzyl cyanide, ethyl acrylate and diphenylamine.
- It sets requirements for raw materials, burning quality, fragrance performance and chemical parameters.
- It lets conforming products carry the BIS Standard Mark.
The Bureau of Indian Standards drafted it with CSIR-CIMAP (the Central Institute of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants), CSIR-IITR (the Indian Institute of Toxicology Research), CSIR-CFTRI (the Central Food Technological Research Institute), the Fragrance and Flavour Development Centre in Kannauj, and the All India Agarbathi Manufacturers Association.
Is IS 19412 compulsory?
Not as far as we can find. One outlet called the standard "mandatory", but we found no Quality Control Order making it compulsory, and other reports speak only of eligibility for the Standard Mark. Treat it as voluntary until an order says otherwise. A pack should not say "BIS certified" or "IS 19412 compliant" unless the maker holds a BIS licence or a test report.
What did the 1992 tentative standard test?
The new standard replaces in practice a much simpler one, IS 13582 (T):1992, whose tests were physical. The table sets the two side by side.
| Aspect | IS 13582 (T):1992, tentative | IS 19412:2025, as reported |
|---|---|---|
| Status | A tentative standard | India's first dedicated agarbatti standard |
| Burning | The stick stands upright and keeps burning without going out; no sparks or falling embers | Requirements for burning quality |
| Smoke and chemicals | The smoke should not irritate | Chemical parameters, with eight named substances banned |
| Form and types | Bare end no longer than 20% of the stated length; cones and logs outside its scope | Three types: machine-made, hand-made and traditional masala |
| Raw materials and fragrance | Not among the tests we found | Requirements for raw materials and fragrance performance |
Where does "Made in India" fit on an agarbatti box?
"Made in India" tells you where a pack of agarbatti was made or finished. It may not tell you where every stage happened, because a stick passes through several hands before it is boxed.
India's packaging rules set what a box must say. Under the Legal Metrology (Packaged Commodities) Rules, every package must carry the name and complete address of the manufacturer, packer or importer. Since 1 January 2018, imported packages must also name the country of origin, manufacture or assembly. Read together with the supply chain above, that leaves four stages a box may or may not account for:
- The bamboo splint, which may be Indian or imported; the 2020 duty increase was meant to favour Indian splints.
- The raw stick, rolled in India or, before 2019, often imported; imports of raw agarbatti were made subject to a licence in 2019.
- The perfume, blended in India from Indian or imported materials.
- The packing, which is always covered, because the packer's name and address must be on the box.
If the origin of each stage matters to you, read the "manufactured by" line, check whether the pack names its type under IS 19412, and ask the brand where its sticks are rolled. A brand that rolls its own sticks in India can say so plainly.
How we checked these facts
We worked from the Divine Hindu agarbatti fact sheet of 3 November 2026, in which each claim carries its source and a reliability flag, and re-read the primary documents that would load: government press releases, the GI registry, the 1992 standard and the 2017 packaging rules. Industry figures are given with the body that made them and the year. Where only one source supports a figure, the text attributes it.
- Process and materials: the DC-MSME project profile on agarbatti; Wikipedia on incense in India; Beauty Without Cruelty India on agarbatti manufacture; the 2021 survey of Tripura stick makers; KFRI's Bamboo Technical Support Group on jigat and The Hindu on KFRI's patented binder; and Tripura's Industries Department.
- Government schemes and trade: the Press Information Bureau on the Khadi Agarbatti Aatmanirbhar Mission (2020), on the import restriction and bamboo duty (2022) and on machines distributed (2026); the text of DGFT Notification 15/2015-2020; and Global Trade Alert on Customs Notification 27/2020.
- Industry size and work: Deccan Herald and KNN India on the ministry's figures and IS 19412; Business Standard (ANI) on the association's employment estimate; and The News Minute on Bengaluru's rollers.
- GI and standards: the GI registry entry for Mysore Agarbathi; Wikipedia on Mysore Agarbathi; the primary text of IS 13582 (T):1992; and AffairsCloud on the drafting bodies.
- Labelling: the text of the Legal Metrology (Packaged Commodities) Amendment Rules, 2017.
What we could not confirm: whether IS 19412:2025 is compulsory; whether the 2019 import restriction is still in force today; whether the 2020 mission still runs separately; and the current renewal status of the Mysore Agarbathi GI, which the registry page does not show.
Related reading
This page is the industry chapter of our agarbatti series. The finished sticks it describes are sorted in types of agarbatti, and the charcoal question in charcoal-free agarbatti. What the smoke studies say, and how to burn incense with care at home, is in is agarbatti smoke harmful? For the fragrances themselves, see kesar chandan agarbatti and kasturi agarbatti, which explains why natural musk is not used. For the puja the sticks are made for, read how to light agarbatti in puja and how to do puja at home, and for the rest of the mandir, the daily pooja essentials guide.
Frequently Asked Questions
How is agarbatti made, step by step?
Bamboo is cut into thin sticks; wood powder or charcoal is mixed with jigat and water into a paste; the paste is rolled onto the sticks by hand or machine; the sticks are dried; raw sticks are dipped in diluted perfume; and they are dried again and packed.
What is agarbatti made of?
An agarbatti has three parts: a bamboo stick, a base paste of charcoal dust or wood powder bound with jigat, and fragrance. The fragrance is either ground aromatics mixed into the paste, as in masala sticks, or liquid perfume added afterwards by dipping.
What is jigat powder?
Jigat is the powdered bark of the tree Litsea glutinosa. Mixed with water it becomes a natural, water-soluble glue that holds the paste onto the bamboo stick. A Kerala Forest Research Institute group says its supply is depleting fast, and KFRI has patented an alternative binder.
Which bamboo is used for agarbatti sticks?
In a 2021 survey of more than 100 stick makers in Tripura, Bambusa tulda was the most preferred species. An older Down To Earth report named muli bamboo, Melocanna baccifera, as the most used. Tripura's Industries Department says the state supplies 60% of India's need.
How many agarbattis can one person roll in a day?
An experienced home roller makes about 3,000 to 4,000 raw sticks a day, a figure given both by Wikipedia and by a Bengaluru roller interviewed in 2019. An automatic machine run by four people makes about 80 kg of agarbatti a day.
Which place is the agarbatti capital of India?
Karnataka is often called the agarbathi capital of India, with Mysuru and Bengaluru as the main centres for scented sticks. "Mysore Agarbathi" was registered as a Geographical Indication in 2005, under GI Certificate No. 7, one of the earliest in India.
What is the Khadi Agarbatti Aatmanirbhar Mission?
It is a KVIC scheme approved on 2 August 2020 that supplies Indian-made automatic agarbatti and powder-mixing machines to artisans through private manufacturers. KVIC pays 25% of the machine cost and the artisan repays the rest in instalments, then owns the machine.
What is IS 19412:2025?
IS 19412:2025 is India's first dedicated standard for agarbatti, released by the Bureau of Indian Standards in December 2025. It sorts sticks as machine-made, hand-made or traditional masala, sets quality requirements, and bans eight substances, including the insecticides permethrin, cypermethrin and fipronil.
Is the BIS standard for agarbatti compulsory?
Not as far as we can find. We found no Quality Control Order making IS 19412:2025 compulsory, so treat it as voluntary. Products that conform can carry the BIS Standard Mark, but a pack should claim that only if the maker holds a BIS licence.
Why did India restrict agarbatti imports?
To curb imports of cheap raw sticks, mainly from China and Vietnam, and bring the work back to Indian artisans. On 31 August 2019 the DGFT moved agarbatti imports from "Free" to "Restricted", at KVIC's request, so importers needed a licence. In 2020 the duty on bamboo sticks also rose from 10% to 25%.
Made in India, from bamboo to box
Every stage above can happen in India: Indian bamboo, Indian rollers, Indian perfumers and Indian packing. When a brand tells you where each stage happens, you know what you are lighting at the lamp.
Divine Hindu Agarbatti is made in India and is charcoal-free, and it burns with less smoke than charcoal-dipped sticks. It is rolled by an NGO production unit under a Government-backed programme. Its seven fragrances, from Natural Chandan and Natural Rose to Rudraksha and Ananda, are traditionally used at the morning and evening lamp, and all are in our agarbatti collection.
This page describes how agarbatti is made and the rules that govern it; it makes no health claim for any product, ours included. Industry figures are estimates by the bodies named, for the years given. For questions of ritual, follow your family's custom and your purohit.
