India Makes Fireworks Worth Thousands of Crores. Why Does So Little Go Abroad?

Sivakasi produces about 90% of India’s fireworks, but exports are a rounding error next to China’s, held back by rules, shipping costs and certification.

India has one of the world’s biggest fireworks industries, estimated at ₹7,000 crore, but its footprint in international trade is tiny. Sivakasi, in Tamil Nadu’s Virudhunagar district, accounts for roughly 85–90% of national production and supplies the country, above all at Diwali. Industry estimates say more than 80% of domestic sales happen in the 30 days around the festival, with Vishu and Ganesh Chaturthi adding demand through the year. Yet more than 99% of what Sivakasi makes is consumed at home.

The export numbers

Recent reporting on the trade puts India’s recorded fireworks exports below $1 million. Other databases differ: OEC shows $2.54 million for 2022, mostly to South Africa and Turkey. The numbers depend on the period and product code, but every version tells the same story, a few million dollars at most. In the same OEC data, China exported about $1.29 billion in 2022, and Tamil Nadu industry body TANFAMA says China accounts for about 82% of world fireworks exports.

Why China wins

China’s hub, Liuyang in Hunan province, has deep supplier networks, access to raw materials, specialised production clusters, keen pricing and long relationships with overseas distributors. India’s industry is mainly small and medium units that know the domestic market well but often lack the scale, infrastructure and capital to compete abroad.

What holds India back

• Dangerous cargo: fireworks need specialised packaging, transport, insurance and shipping, which raises costs, especially on small consignments.
• Foreign standards: European and US buyers expect specific safety, testing, labelling and certification before products can enter.
• Domestic rules: fireworks are low-hazard explosives under the Explosives Rules, 2008, and in the red category in Tamil Nadu. Industry wants a more suitable classification for low-risk items.
• Chemicals: limits on certain compounds, including barium nitrate, mean Indian formulations differ from those many overseas buyers prefer. Manufacturers have asked the Centre to allow barium nitrate for fireworks made only for export.

Signs of change

Some obstacles are easing. Sivakasi manufacturers can now export through Chennai Port for the first time in about 15 years, which cuts out transshipment and shortens transit. The Tamil Nadu government has also said it will announce an export policy. A proposed Sivakasi Pyrotechnic Common Facility Centre would offer shared testing, certification, research, automation and skills infrastructure, and Thoothukudi port could help further. Another report covers Sivakasi’s global ambitions beyond Diwali.

Buyers looking to diversify away from China also create an opening. But infrastructure is not enough: factories need modernising, worker safety must improve, and products have to fit foreign demand and carry recognised certifications.

What it will take

A coordinated export strategy could help: shared testing, streamlined approvals, international certification and tie-ups with established overseas distributors, plus pooled orders from smaller makers. Economics will decide how far this goes. Freight, insurance, compliance and handling costs eat into margins, and without enough margin, the domestic market, with its established distribution, may keep offering better returns.

India has the experience, workforce and home market to build a bigger international presence. What it still lacks is the infrastructure, regulatory clarity and export-minded ecosystem to compete at scale.

Sources: Business Standard, The New Indian Express, OEC, India Sea Trade News. Trade-data figures vary by source and year.