The Ministry of Micro-Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) has approved a ‘Gramodyog Vikas Yojana’ programme for the benefit of artisans involved in the development of Agarbatti.

Keypoints of Gramodyog Vikas Yojana :-

• Four pilot projects will be launched initially, including one in the north-eastern part of the country. Approximately 50 Automatic Agarbatti machines and 10 mixing machines will support each targeted cluster of artisans.
• Two major decisions by the Govt of India.(i) putting the “Agarbatti” item in the import policy from “Free trade to “Restricted” trade and (ii) raising the import duty from 10 percent to 25 percent on round bamboo sticks” used for the production of Agarbatti would help boost the ‘Agarbatti’ indigenous production.
• Under this mission, the Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC) will provide training for Agarbatti production machines and assist artisans working in this field.