MADURAI: Match manufacturers from Thoothukudi’s Kovilpatti and Sattur and Sivakasi in the neighbouring Virudhunagar district expressed happiness over the Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s promise to take steps to impose a ban on import of cigar lighters.

M. Paramasivam, president, National Small Match Manufacturers Association, Kovilpatti, said several manufacturers met the Union Minister in Madurai on Sunday night and represented their demands for banning the import of cigar lighter. While meeting, the manufacturers expressed their gratitude for the Minister’s intervention in setting a minimum FOB price for imported plastic lighters to safeguard the traditional industry.

He said the menace continues through illegal means, posing a threat to the industry and also the vision of ‘Make in India’. Citing these, the manufacturers sought her continued support to ban the import of cigar lighters and to prohibit manufacturing of plastic lighters. The Union Minister interacted with match workers in Virudhunagar on Sunday.