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The production of finished goods by a worker, sometimes together with his family, at home is known as cottage industry. The products may be sold directly to the public, by the worker, or to an entrepreneur who pays according to number of goods produced. Cottage industry has a long history in India. It exists in almost all the states and regions of the country. Thus, the cottage industry involves the family labour and with the minimum investment the family attempts to increase its income. Some of the important cottage industries in India are making, sports goods, basketmaking, lac industry, manufacture of crackers, paper machie, perfumery, needlework on shawls, and wearings.
The main raw materials used in the bidi are tendu leaves (Diospyros melanoxylod) and kachnal [Bauhinia racemosd}, found in the forests of Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, and Western and Eastern Ghats. Inferior tobacco which is an important ingredient of Zurft-making is obtained from Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh. The annual production of bidiis more than 1000 crores. India exports bidiio the Asian, African, and European countries.
India produces the entire equipments for athletics goods: basket-ball, cricket, tennis, badminton, baseball, billiard, carrom, chess, dart, football, golf, gymnastics, squash, volleyball, and water-polo. Many of these products are produced in tire cottage industry.