Sivakasi, Tamil Nadu Oct 25 (UNI) The Fireworks Industry in Sivakasi was expecting a 15 to 25 percent rise in crackers’ sale this year than previous Diwali festive season, due to the stringent efforts taken by the Central and state governments to curb smuggling of Chinese fireworks into the country. “There was a huge influx of Chinese crackers into India for the past three years through ports at Thoothukudi, Chennai, Mumbai, Kolkatta and ICD Tuglagabad, stealing a huge chunk of market share, besides wrecking the livelihood of over 3.50 lakh workers depended on the Sivakasi fireworks industry. But, due to the stringent measures taken by the Central and state government, there was substantial decline in Chinese crackers smuggling this year,” A.Asaithambi, President of Tamil Nadu Fireworks and Amorces Manufacturers’ Association (TANFAMA) told UNI. Cracker traders are hopeful of good sales this year, which is likely to be between 15 to 25 percent as majority of fireworks manufacturers have not raised prices despite higher raw material and transportation cost. The price of crackers has always gone up by an incremental ten percent annually, but this year the prices remain the same to those in 2015. He said Sivakasi, the fireworks hub of country with 800 odd licensed fireworks units boasts of over Rs 6,000 crore worth of annual turnover and providing employment opportunities to over five lakh families directly or indirectly. Sivakasi also ranks as the highest tax payer towns in India. MORE UNI GSM CS 1004