ITC aims at top slot in domestic incense market

ITC forayed into incense sticks by launching a new brand of incense sticks "� Mangal Deep "� yesterday. It entered into a contract manufacturing tie-up with two Bangalore-based SSIs for the new brand.

V M Rajasekharan, the chief executive officer (CEO) of ITC's agarbathi business, said the company was expecting to gain a five per cent market share in the second year in the Rs 900 crore domestic agarbathti business, matching the present industry leader Cycle brand's marketshare. "We aim to be number one in this business over a period of time," he added.

The company also plans to export incense sticks to major user countries in South East Asia, US and Europe. The country exports Rs 200 crore worth incense sticks every year.

"To ensure the purity of fragrance, we have launched the products in fragrance locked packages," Rajasekharan said.

The company plans to make Mangal Deep available in 80,000 plus outlets in AP initially, after which the national rollout will take place. The initial fragrances launched today include sandal, bouquet and rose.

"The new launch manifests our commitment to enhance the business competitiveness of the country's small and medium enterprises from which ITC sources its FMCG products," R Srinivasan, a member of corporate management committee at ITC, said.