THOOTHUKUDI: Safety match manufacturers urged the state government to ban the sales of gas-fuelled cigarette lighters in order to protect the safety match factories which have reeling due to high input costs and unavailability of raw materials.
One lighter is equivalent to 20 safety match boxes as each lighter offers 600 strokes.
This causes a huge setback for the safety match factories, said National small-scale safety match manufacturers association president Paramasivam, adding, the spare parts of cigarette lighters are imported from China illegally and are being assembled locally and given the “Made in India” label.
The union government had prohibited free import of Chinese cigarette lighters priced under Rs 20 in June 2023, and restricted the import of parts of gas-fuelled pocket lighters in October 2024 in order to protect the safety match industry. However, the lighters are still available in the market, thus crashing the market for safety matches, the local manufacturers say. Safety match factories at its hub in Kovilpatti employ over five lakh labourers with the majority being women. The safety matches produced here have a good market across Indian states.
Stating that the input cost of the match boxes have spiked, the manufacturers here said that one bundle containing 600 match boxes cost Rs 330 before the Israel-Iran war began in February 2026, but thereafter the price increased to Rs 380. It is tough to trade at a cost of Rs 360, they said.
The prices of all the 14 types of chemical components have doubled. For splints we now have to depend on supply from Kerala as its import was curbed due to war, manufacturers said.
We wanted to increase the price of a safety match box to Rs 2 from Rs 1; however, it was not accepted by the traders due to easily available gas lighters, the producers said.
Paramasivam said the Tamil Nadu government must ban the manufacturing and sales of cigarette lighters as the state houses 90 percent of the safety match factories that generate revenue for the government exchequer and provide employment for women in rural pockets.
The influx of cigarette lighters has affected over 25% sales of safety matches annually, says another manufacturer, adding it has led to stagnation in production.The manufacturers said the Andaman and Nicobar administration had banned lighters in 2019 on the grounds they are single-use plastic that can harm the fragile island ecosystem.
Similarly, the Tamil Nadu government should ban the lighters so that the safety match industry can be protected, the safety match manufacturers said.