GCPL sounds alarm bell over use of illegal, Chinese mosquito repellent incense sticks

It's high time to sound an alarm bell over the growing use of the illegal and Chinese mosquito repellent incense sticks and various health hazards caused by them.

- RITWIK MUKHERJEE

The illegal and Chinese mosquito repellent incense sticks market in East India is pegged at over Rs 600 crore out of an overall national category size of Rs 1675 crore. That's not all. The category is growing by nearly 20 per cent annually. In East India, West Bengal is the biggest market for illegal incense sticks, followed by Chhattisgarh.

Quite interestingly, this growing use of such repellent incense sticks is notwithstanding the fact that as high as 73 per cent citizens in East India feel uneasy or irritated while using illegal and unregulated mosquito repellent incense sticks.

This has to be seen in light of a recent survey by Good Knight, India's leading household insecticide brand from Godrej Consumer Products Ltd. (GCPL) and conducted by market research firm YouGov, which highlights the risks associated with mosquito-borne diseases.