Lighting up the Country for a Century

"If politics or cinema are the subjects of small talk in tea stalls and restaurants of other cities, in Sivakasi, it's business jargon such as double demy, crown, and 170 GSM," is how Madurai-based Professor of Engineering Murali Kannan describes the fireworks capital of the country.

It was in the year 1923 that P Ayya Nadar and A Shanmuga Nadar, friends from the village of Sivakasi in the then ‘Virudhapatti', founded the first matchbox factory in Tamil Nadu. A year later, on 29 October 1924, the name ‘Virudhupatti' (village) was changed to ‘Virudhunagar' (city).

Historically an arid region with no particular claim, Virudhunagar now has 50 fully mechanised and 300 semi-mechanised matchstick-making units, 1,100 fireworks units, and about 150 printing units. It has been providing direct and indirect employment to nearly 10 lakh people throughout the year, though Diwali is the peak season.

But 100 years on, things seem to have come full circle, with restrictions mounting on the use of fireworks and the printing industry getting decentralised. All the industries are just at "break-even," says Nagaraj, Treasurer, All India Chamber of Match Industries.

- Times of India