The Union government has taken a serious note of a surge in the illegal transfer of raw incense sticks from Vietnam to India under the garb of import of joss powder, which attracts zero per cent duty and is a raw material used in making “agarbatti” (incense sticks), ever since the import of such sticks was put under the “restricted category” in August 2019 by India.
According to highly-placed government sources, the surge in the import of supposedly joss powder from Vietnam – which has led to revenue loss to the exchequer due to import duty evasion as well as loss of employment in joss-sticks manufacturing units — has prompted the authorities to hunt for the smuggling cartel operating in India apart from Vietnam, and may even order a CBI probe in the coming days.
Joss powder is used in a very small quantity in making incense sticks. For making 1,000 incense sticks, 500 gm charcoal powder, 400 gm wood powder, 300 gm bamboo sticks and only 100 gm joss powder are required.
The sources said that after the government put the raw incense sticks under the restricted category on 31 August last year to check imports from China and Vietnam, it noticed a four-fold spike in joss powder import from Vietnam in four months thereafter even as import of raw incense sticks declined to certain extent.
Citing the figures on joss powder imports from January to August 2019, the source said that only 5,749 metric tonnes at an average of 718 metric tonnes per month was imported. However, after August 2019, in the first four months, the import of joss powder from Vietnam saw a surge to 10,436 metric tonnes at an average of 2,609 MT per month.