ગુજરાતી
English
One crore brooms are used every year in Gujarat.
Dilip Patel
Ahmedabad, February 12, 2026
The city of Ahmedabad employs 10,000 workers to clean 480 square kilometers. 7 lakh brooms are used annually to clean the city. Each worker uses 70 brooms annually. 6 brooms are cleaned every month. If we include government, private, and households in Ahmedabad, this figure could double. It is estimated that 5 million brooms are used annually by local self-government bodies in Gujarat. This translates to 7 per person. If we include private and public spaces, the same number of brooms could be used. This translates to an average of 14 brooms used per person in Gujarat. In India, the average number used per person every year is 12.
The saying “sweeping” means becoming completely barren.
Ahmedabad
500,000 Goa brooms and 200,000 military brooms are being purchased.
The Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation’s Material Management and Purchase Committee, in two separate proposals, decided to spend ₹3.29 crore to purchase a total of 700,000 brooms, including 500,000 Goa brooms and 200,000 military brooms.
One lakh military brooms were purchased from Dhanalakshmi Ubha Broom Store and 100,000 military brooms from Abhishek Sanitation Cooperative Society Limited, totaling ₹1.90 crore.
The price of one military broom was fixed at ₹54.80. 500,000 Goa brooms were purchased from Ambika Traders for ₹2.50 lakh and from Abhishek Sanitation Cooperative Society Limited for ₹2.50 lakh, at ₹44 per piece. ₹2.20 crore will be provided.
Brooms made from palm or grass straw bring prosperity to the home, but plastic brooms should be avoided. Brooms are used daily in homes, shops, and offices. They are used for cleaning.
Gujarat
The exact number of brooms purchased for cleaning in Gujarat is not publicly available, as procurement occurs at different levels:
51% of the population lives in 17 metropolitan cities and 250 smaller towns. 49% of the population lives in 14,000 gram panchayats. In 2023, the Surat Municipal Corporation previously announced a tender for 80,000 long-handled brooms worth ₹3 million.
Brooms are purchased annually through tenders. The procurement figure depends on the size of the city, the number of cleaners, and the machinery used.
Lakhs of brooms, including hand brooms and street brooms, are purchased annually in major cities. Under the “Swachh Bharat Mission,” gram panchayats are also provided with funds for cleaning supplies. Schools, hospitals, and government offices make their own purchases. Purchases are often made through the GeM (Government e-Marketplace) portal.
Ahmedabad Home & Office
Based on Ahmedabad’s population and area, it’s possible that 5 million brooms are purchased annually across Gujarat’s urban and rural areas. This could be the same number of brooms purchased by homes, offices, factories, schools, hospitals, public institutions, and other places. Thus, 10 million brooms could be purchased annually. If a broom costs 50 rupees, then 50 crore worth of brooms could be purchased.
Chandola Lake
The Chandola Lake and Millatnagar areas of Ahmedabad are the main centers for broom manufacturing and sales in Gujarat. This is known as Jhadu Market or Jhadu Market. Various types of brooms made from nylon and grass are manufactured here on a large scale and sold throughout the state.
The largest production and market is now the slums that have been demolished. Brooms are available here, ranging from 8 rupees to 350 rupees.
Brooms are made from a special type of dried grass, Sunthia grass (in rural Gujarat), palm fiber, rice roots, or coconut fiber (sugar).
India
The broom market in India was worth ₹1,180 crore in 2024. It is expected to grow at a rate of 4.80 percent to ₹1,815 crore by 2030. The average person uses 12 brooms a year.
Assam
Karbi Onglong, located in Central Assam, is India’s largest broom manufacturing company, catering to millions of households across the country. The brooms produced here are unique and environmentally friendly, made from grass.
Chhattisgarh
Abujhmad in Chhattisgarh is known for brooms made by tribal communities. They are also in high demand in Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, and Andhra Pradesh. They generate revenues of over ₹1 crore. Women in Hitulwada, a village across the river in the Orchha area, began making brooms at home using this grass.
History of the Broom
Brooms were previously unavailable. In villages, they made their own brooms from grass or straw, such as rampadu, lapadu, zipto, zipti, and bamboo, date palm, etc.
The form of the broom has varied depending on the circumstances, geography, and cultures. It is known by various names, including kalushnasini, sammarjani, khyora, brush, pochada, kucha, badhan, badhani, costa, etc.
Mention of the broom in China dates back to the Eastern Han Dynasty, 25–220 AD. A stone tomb door depicts a man holding a broom. Remaining fragments from the Han Dynasty are housed in the Sichuan Provincial Museum in Chengdu, China.
In 1453, several European writers mentioned Guillaume Adelin in their literature.
It is said that the broom was invented by a farmer in Massachusetts, USA, in 1797. Modern Western scholars place the broom’s origins at 200 years after Christ.
Anthropologists believe that the broom originated in ancient times, 1.6 to 1.8 million years ago. Inspired by the cleaning habits of dogs, brooms may have been made from wild grass.
E
Traces of brooms have been found in the ruins of Egyptian civilization, Herculaneum, Pompeii, and the Harappan civilization. In India, paintings and sculptures in the Ajanta and Ellora caves depict prostitutes holding fans.
Jain monks are depicted carrying fans in ancient Indian history. The Manusmriti also mentions brooms in verses on the five sins. Chapter 77 of the Agni Purana also emphasizes the importance of properly storing brooms, along with stoves and millstones.
In India, Europe, and Africa, it is customary not to clean the house after sunset. (Google translation from Gujarati)
