CUTTACK: The Odisha Rural Development & Marketing Society (ORMAS) in collaboration with ITC Ltd has planned to turn the defunct Balarampur UP School at Khentala in Isani Brahmapur gram panchayat under Nischintakoili block into a rural industrial park (RIP) for production of incense sticks.
Sources said around five community-based organisations (CBOs) are currently operational in Isani Brahmapur GP where over 500 women are engaged in making incense sticks. The initiative was started in 2009 to facilitate supply of hand-rolled incense sticks through the CBOs. However over time, with advancement of technology, the agarbatti production process evolved from hand-rolled techniques to pedal machines, and eventually to automated machines.
Responding to ITC’s growing procurement needs and recognising the strength of five CBOs engaged in incense sticks’ production in the region, the Cuttack administration came up with the decision to set up the rural industrial park at Isani Brahmapur GP.
“The rural industrial park aims to ensure sustainable economic growth of the CBOs facilitated by ORMAS. The cluster will be provided dedicated infrastructure for the entire value chain of agarbatti production - from raw materials’ procurement and automatic machine-based processing to packaging and supply of finished products. The park will be developed under a public-private partnership (PPP) model with ITC, which will provide capacity-building and marketing support,” said joint CEO, ORMAS, Bipin Rout.
The park is expected to contribute to the procurement target of 40 metric tonne set by ITC, to be supplied by this cluster, Rout said.
Further, considering the agro-horticultural potential of the area, collector-cum-district magistrate, Dattatreya Bhausaheb Shinde has directed the Horticulture department to establish a solar-powered cold storage unit on the premises of the rural industrial park to reduce post-harvest losses.