♦ The union government issued a notification announcing a new Indian Standard for incense sticks (agarbatti), laying down quality norms and specifying a list of substances prohibited for use in their manufacture.

♦ The standard has been developed by the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) to ensure safer products and promote responsible and sustainable practices in the incense stick industry.

♦ To address these issues, IS 19412:2025 specifies a list of substances prohibited for use in agarbattis.

♦ According to the notification, the standard classifies agarbattis into machine-made, hand-made, and traditional masala agarbattis, and prescribes norms for raw materials, burning quality, fragrance performance and chemical parameters.

♦ India is the world’s largest producer and exporter of agarbattis.

♦ The industry is estimated at around Rs 8,000 crore annually, with exports worth nearly Rs 1,200 crore to over 150 countries, including the US, Malaysia, Nigeria, Brazil and Mexico.