The bidi industry impacts our economy to a large extent, yet is somewhat misunderstood and quite unknown. Not only does the bidi industry employ six times as many workers than its fancy cousin – Cigarettes – but also quantifies to bear a tremdous socio-economic significance in employment generation in India, yielding an average of 1310 million man days of employment.
The Indian bidi industry employs over 6 million and is worth INR 100-150 billion …
A large part of our human resource sources its livelihood through employment in various organized and unorganized sectors such as the cottage and agricultural industries. Nearly 70% of Indians still reside in rural areas and are largely depend on agriculture for survival and 90% of the working population in our country, especially in rural areas, is employed by the cottage industry and which is a major source of income for them.
As stated by Ministry of Industry, Government of India in press statement dated 20th January, 2006: "It would be unrealistic to view tobacco purely as a health problem and ignore the economic and social fall-outs of tobacco control… we have to bear in mind the employment and livelihood of the large numbers engaged in tobacco cultivation and production. If we do not conceive of tobacco control as a comprehensive package, our attempts at intervention may become self-defeating… the community at large has to be fully informed and involved".
A few more industry statistics
Out of the nearly one crore people involved in the industry, around 60 lakh are directly employed in the rolling of bidi activity. The rest are tendu leaves cultivators in the forest areas of the country.
Maharashtra is home to around 2.5 to 3 lakh of this workforce. Solapur district alone employs nearly 65,000 workers in different activities of bidi industry.
Bidi is a home-based industry and 95 per cent of its workers are women.
The entire process of bidi manufacturing is by human hands and no mechanical operation is involved.
Bidi products are 100 per cent natural with low nicotine and tar percentages
Bidi is an important source of income, for women' earnings constitute on an average 45 to 50% of the total income.
All these factors demonstrate the bidi industry's tremendous growth potential which is being driven primarily by various factors like high level of employment, sustained levels of growth in agriculture sector, women empowerment, natural resources management, revenue generation, upgrading of skills and education.
Our role in the bidi industry
We understand the importance of the bidi industry in its social context. We firmly believe that the pragmatism of the Government’s macro policies can bring the desired results only if the corporate sector becomes the agent of change and inculcates these policies in their own managerial and operational setups.
Though privately owned, our bidi business is run on the lines of a social enterprise, based on the doctrine of the cooperative movement. By adopting the highly successful cooperative model for our bidi business, we have created a free enterprise for our workers. We have taken the business to where the labour is… not displaced the labour and increased the urban-rural divide.
Our deep-rooted work ethics ensure that both the management and workers help each other to achieve the goal of production and distribution of wealth upon principles of equity, reason and common good. Thus, we at the Sarda Group incessantly endeavour to create a scalable business model for our people, our biggest assets.
corporate mindset and practsiced in its entirety. To achieve these objectives, we have lead the way by undertaking a plethora of unparalled initiatives devoted to the betterment of our bidi workers and their families.
Pioneers in the bidi making industry by blood, we are proud to have achieved several ‘firsts’ to our credit. These innovations and achievements have, to a fair degree, changed the very character of the bidi industry. For instance:
First in the industry to work towards the benefit and safety through various welfare activities for bidi workers and their families, which include comprehensive medical and educational facilities
Through vast R&D, the Sarda Group has innovated India’s first filtered, low tar and low nicotine, flavoured bidis.
First to establish and implement ERP systems in this business.
First to mechanize tobacco processing, to ensure consistent quality, taste & hygiene
Strict quality control at all stages of bidi making
Packaging codes to prevent counterfeit products from entering the market
Besides, we have implemented a highly scalable customer acquisition models for further expansion and progress of the business and the workers in turn
Our professional approach, path breaking industry innovations and employee welfare initiatives have been duly recognized and appreciated by the Union Ministry of Labour and Employment. These measures have resulted in the steady growth of our bidi business when nationally, the industry by and large has stagnated or even declined in the last couple of decades.
The Indian bidi industry employs over 6 million and is worth INR 100-150 billion …
We understand the importance of the bidi industry in its social context. We firmly believe that the pragmatism of the Government’s macro policies can bring the desired results only if the corporate sector becomes the agent of change and inculcates these policies in their own managerial and operational setups. 
