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With over many species of mosquitoes believed to be responsible for spreading diseases such as malaria, dengue fever and other mosquito related afflictions, India has a large and growing market for mosquito repellants. Many methods are used in households for dealing with the mosquito menace. In spite of the pervasiveness of the mosquito problem, the use of repellants in India is fairly low. It is estimated that only 16.4% of the households in all urban areas and 22.6% in the metros use mosquito repellants. The figure for the rural areas is even lower; at only 6.9%.Coils were the first mosquito repellants to be introduced in the Indian market.

The total market size of non-agro insect and pest control products is estimated at around Rs 15 billion. Of this, flying insect (mosquito) repellent market is placed at Rs 8.25 billion.

The mosquito repellents are available as mats, coils, vaporizers or as liquids. The market is supplemented by a host of mechanical and electro-mechanical devices to make the basic repellents effective. There is also a cream component of the market for personal use. The market is literally dominated by four players-Reckitt Benckiser with its Mortein, Jyothi Laboratories with Maxo and Godrej Sara Lee with Good Night and Karamchand Appliances Private Ltd. with its All Out. The other players in this sector are Balsara Hygiene with a repellant cream, Odomos, Bayer with the brands Baygon Spray, Baygon Power Mats and Baygon Knockout; and Tainwala Chemicals with the Casper brand of mats and coils. While Mortein has 29% of the market, Maxo with 22% and Good Night with 20% are not far behind.

Of the total insect control market, the relative shares of different product categories are mats 10%, coils 50%, vaporizers 20% and aerosols and cream 5%. The overall insect repellent market is expected to grow to Rs 27 billion by end 2009-10 and over the next five years towards end 2014-15, it is projected to grow to a sizable Rs 39 billion market.

The demand for mats is understood to be growing very fast in the rural areas, whereas in urban areas the vaporizers are replacing mats and coils. In terms of the total market spread, the urban share was about 70%. In the rural markets, the dominant products are mats and coils, bait and creams.

According to industry reports, the Indian mosquito repellant market was expected to grow rapidly in the early 21st century. Analysts said that with improvement in literacy and health consciousness in rural areas, the use of mosquito repellants was expected to increase substantially in these areas. As the per capita usage of repellants was very low in the country, there was considerable scope for the market to expand.