3 weeks ago
Gagan Dhawan Builds ServDharm Around India's Devotional Economy
In India, many families buy special items for prayers and festivals, like incense, idols and puja kits.
For a long time, they bought these things from small local shops and trusted sellers they knew.
That market was very disorganised, with different quality and packaging everywhere.
A man named Gagan Dhawan started a company called ServDharm to make these products more reliable.
He adds quality checks and standard packaging, but he does not change the traditions themselves.
India's religious goods economy is very big, worth around ₹2.5 lakh crore every year.
The incense market alone was worth about 1.3 billion US dollars in 2025 and may grow to 2.2 billion by 2034.
ServDharm also sells online so Indian families living in other countries can buy trusted products.
Dhawan believes tradition and modern business can work together.
His goal is to build trust in devotional products, just like people trust other brands.
Gagan Dhawan founded ServDharm to organise India's fragmented pooja samagri market with structured sourcing, quality checks and standardised packaging.
India's spiritual and religious goods economy is estimated at around ₹2.5 lakh crore annually.
India's agarbatti and dhoop market was valued at approximately USD 1.3 billion in 2025 and is projected to reach USD 2.2 billion by 2034.
ServDharm uses organised retail and e-commerce to move devotional products beyond neighbourhood distribution.
The company is expanding internationally to serve Indian diaspora communities in the US, Canada, UK, Gulf and parts of Southeast Asia.
- Who
- Gagan Dhawan, founder of ServDharm
- What
- Building ServDharm into an organised, global brand for India's devotional products (pooja samagri) through structured sourcing, quality checks, standardised packaging and e-commerce.
- Where
- India, with international expansion to the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, the Gulf and parts of Southeast Asia.
- When
- Not specified in the article; it cites 2025 market data and 2034 projections for the incense market.
- Why
- To bring reliability, consistency and wider availability to a fragmented, trust-based devotional products market, including for Indian diaspora families abroad.
Key facts
- Founder
- Gagan Dhawan
- Company
- ServDharm
- Sector
- Pooja samagri / devotional products
- India's religious goods economy
- ≈ ₹2.5 lakh crore annually
- Incense (agarbatti & dhoop) market, 2025
- ≈ USD 1.3 billion
- Projected incense market, 2034
- ≈ USD 2.2 billion
- International markets targeted
- US, Canada, UK, Gulf, Southeast Asia
- Key approach
- Structured sourcing, quality checks, standardised packaging, organised retail and e-commerce
Quotes
Gagan Dhawan
Founder and CEO of ServDharm, entrepreneur in the devotional products industry.
“The products themselves are extremely personal. It’s what is used in someone’s home, in their most private moments of faith. Our job isn’t to reinvent that, it’s to make sure the sourcing, quality and consistency are things people can actually rely on, the same way they’d expect from any category they trust.”
republicworld.com
“Once you’re serving someone thousands of miles from home, trying to recreate a ritual that connects them back to their family and their roots, there is very little room for shortcuts.”
republicworld.com
Sources
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