Safety Matches
is a small, but essential item of life. Safety
Matches originated in China. In India, Matches
were imported from France & England. Later
in 1921, Matches were manufactured at Calcutta
by machines. Two persons namely, Mr. P. Ayaa
Nadar and Mr. A. Shanmuga Nadar took the know-how
from Calcutta and started manufacturing Safety
Matches at Sivakasi in South India from 1922.
From 1950 to 1975 the Safety
matches Industries started spreading in spite
of scarcity of Raw Materials. Many Small scale
(Cottage) Units came up. In 1971 a red phosphorous
manufacturing unit was set up to meet the
demand of Small Scale Safety Matches manufacturing
units in and around Sivakasi.
Slowly,
Small Scale Cottage Industries manufacturing Matches
came up in nearby Sattur and Kovilpatti Towns.
As the Industry grew The Pioneer
Group started Potassium Chlorate (a vital raw materials
for matches) manufacturing unit near Sivakasi.
In and around Sivakasi there
are about 280 Small Scale Sector Units ('C' Scale) each
of which produce more than 75 million sticks per annum.
There are about 2300 Tiny Sector
('D' Scale) Units each of which produce less than
75 million sticks per annum.
The break up for total production
of Safety matches in India is as below:
Approx.
Percentage
Machine based manufacturing
units
30%
'C' Units - Hand made
- Small Scale
58%
'D' Units - Tiny Scale
12%
Today Safety Matches Industry
provides employment to hundreds of thousands adult labourers.
Export of Safety Matches from
India has been steadily growing since last 10 years.
