India's economic allure lies in its untapped potential at the grassroots level. However, to harness this wealth, the local market must be cultivated and developed. The over half a million villages in India, largely reliant on agriculture and often affected by monsoon fluctuations, are on the lookout for additional income sources.
A significant sector that capitalizes on this need is the incense industry, which engages mostly female workers in producing handcrafted incense sticks. Over the years, training programs in activities like incense stick rolling have spurred economic self-sufficiency and job creation, particularly for women seeking supplemental income. The incense industry, worth around thousands of crores, predominantly draws from rural India, presenting opportunities for other industries to tap into this resource, fostering rural livelihoods and empowerment.
The incense sector has had low entry and exit hurdles due to readily available raw materials, straightforward manufacturing, and substantial labour reliance. This shift has transformed the industry from numerous small entities to a handful of large firms. Several NGOs and government bodies have collaborated with incense manufacturers to offer incense stick making training, fostering employment in economically disadvantaged regions.
AUORA- The Scent of India is empowering rural women through training in bamboo splitting and hand rolling. AUORA uses used flowers from temples and households; as one of the raw materials and turns it into mesmerising incense, bakhoors, aroma oils, car freshners and scented sachets. Each year in India, numerous floral remnants are discarded into rivers and various water entities, thereby suffocating and contaminating them, which ultimately culminates in environmental deterioration.
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