Mumbai:Mysore Deep Perfumery House (MDPH), a leader in quality fragrances in incense sticks, from Indore (MP), has introduced a new high-end premium yet affordable segment – ‘Zed Black Luxury’, its nation-wide campaign ‘Women Power in Agarbatti (Incense) Industry’, which was flagged off in Mumbai promoting the prominence of women workforce in the growing market of incense sticks globally. With 70% women workers at its various units, the company has an annual capacity of 8 billion sticks a year spread across its own facility in Madhya Pradesh along with franchise manufacturing units spread across States such as Kanpur, Raipur, Jaipur& Cuttack.“The 10-city roadshowheld in Mumbai, Raipur, Kochi, Chennai, Bhopal, Delhi, Dehradun, Bhubaneswar, Ranchi and Patnawill pursue our commitment towards women empowerment and ‘Make in India’ by creating more jobs for women in the booming Agarbatti trade market of our country”, echoedAgarbatti Maker AnkitAgarwal.

MDPH, is the third largest Agarbatti manufacturer in the country, and is already enjoying a great run in around the country with its popular brands Zed Black Arij& Manthan-100.The new, Zedblack Luxury fragrances offersfour exotic variants like French Lavender, Pure Sandal, Black Musk, and White Sage, which has been specially created by sourcing natural & fresh ingredients from India and across the globe to create a relaxing, purify atmosphere and to restore mind and body.

Mr AnkitAgarwal, Director Zed Black shared “The Rs 5000-crore agarbatti industry is dependent predominantly on rural India. We are reaching out to these untapped resources by connecting with the rural families and providing them with both livelihood and rural empowerment through Agarbatti making business. The incense industry is a labour-intensive industry with each incense stick being handcrafted, predominantly by women workers, he adds, “We are setting up one more state of the art factory at Indore (MP) which is about 2.5 lac Sq. ft. to be operational by September 2018. This would increase our production capacity by 40% and provide employment to 1000 women in MP.”He adds, “This step reciprocates in our pledge and eventually strengthens Zed Black’s mission of ‘PrarthnaHogiSweekar’, which is spearheaded by Ace Cricketer M S Dhoni.

The agarbatti market in India is pegged at Rs. 5,000 crore, and is evenly distributed between organized and unorganized sectors. ‘Zedblack’ is amongst the top three organized players in the country with 15per cent market share and product extensions and entry into new segments like Cosmetic & Food Division are likely to lead to a near 18 per cent growth for the company both in the domestic and global market. The company also announced overseas expansion plans with its first international office of Southeast Asia in Nepal and United States in the West.