The Shift in Menstrual Hygiene Demand in Rural and Semi-Urban India

Rural and semi-urban India. that’s where the real demand for menstrual hygiene products is hitting now. it’s a quiet shift, maybe, but it shows how people are actually accessing menstrual health outside the big cities. that’s what a top official at HLL, the Mini Ratna public sector company—you know, the one under the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare—told News18.

Hari Krishnan Namboothiri, Vice President at HLL, he pointed out that smaller towns, semi-urban areas, and rural markets are contributing a lot to this demand for hygiene products and awareness. it’s not just the metros anymore.

He said there are growing acceptance and demand even in those traditionally underserved regions. this wasn't just organic. there were government schemes running, NGO work, school awareness programs, and CSR stuff. think Indian Oil Corporation, Hindustan Petroleum, Kennametal India, even Cochin Shipyard Limited getting involved. that’s how they managed to push things beyond the major metropolitan areas.

It’s a big acknowledgment. for years, the whole organized menstrual hygiene market in India felt like an urban story. now the demand frontier is visibly moving into districts, into villages. it reflects all those years of health campaigns finally having an effect.

Namboothiri was talking about a decade. over the last ten years, things have definitely changed in terms of menstrual hygiene awareness . there were the public health campaigns, the school education, the media noise, all the government programs pushing things along.

Conversations that used to be completely taboo? they’re starting to become more mainstream. especially for young women and adolescents. there's more talk now about hygienic practices, about sustainable products, about reproductive health in general.

Awareness sessions, like the ones done through projects such as THINKAL, they showed something important. open discussions, practical demonstrations, getting peer influence, and just some counseling support—that really helps cut down the fear, the hesitation, the misconceptions about menstruation and using products.

THINKAL. that’s HLL’s main initiative for menstrual hygiene, running everywhere. it’s got four parts: awareness, distributing the products, follow-up counseling, and trying to change behavior. it’s designed to move people from just seeing something, to actually using it consistently.

HLL Lifecare itself, started way back in 1966 as part of the National Family Planning Programme, it became almost the default for things like condoms in India. Moods was their big seller back then. now they’ve expanded way beyond that. contraceptives, hospital stuff, women’s healthcare, diagnostics, pharmacies, even emergency services. for the financial year 2024–25, they actually claimed one of their highest dividend contributions—Rs 69.53 crore—to the central government.

When you ask about what sells best? sanitary pads are still holding strong. familiarity and easy access play a huge role there. but menstrual cups ? they are drawing attention now. especially when you look at the awareness programs running.

Menstrual cups are growing fast. particularly among people who care about the environment, students, working women, and those who benefit from these awareness drives. he wouldn't give exact sales figures, of course, but the trend is clear.

Impact studies from THINKAL? they found that when people use menstrual cups, the big advantages they point to are comfort, long-lasting protection, saving money, and the environmental benefits. and the follow-up support really helps keep people using them and feeling confident.

HLL didn't just talk about it. they backed it up with manufacturing. they increased the capacity for making menstrual cups to five million annually. that signals they actually believe in this category’s future. they raised the production capacity at the Akkulam Factory in Thiruvananthapuram to three million. Punya Salila Srivastava, the Union Health Secretary, inaugurated that upgraded facility back in May.

That increased capacity means they can actually distribute these cups for free to underprivileged women across the country under the Thinkal project by FY27. so far they’ve distributed fifteen lakh menstrual cups across nine states—Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Maharashtra, Telangana, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, and Kerala—plus two Union Territories, Lakshadweep and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

The market itself is interesting. right now, the menstrual cup market in India is roughly Rs 130 crore. but the projections? they think it could hit around Rs 230 crore by 2033. that’s a growth rate of about seven to eight percent per year. and here’s the kicker: reusable cups account for about eighty-three percent of that market. that dominance just shows how effective those awareness programs were at positioning them on grounds of saving money and being better for the planet.

Educational institutions are turning out to be huge. they’re both a target and a channel for getting menstrual hygiene access, Namboothiri noted. HLL has been involved in setting up vending machines and hygiene infrastructure in schools and colleges all over India.

These institutions are showing a stronger pull now. they want menstrual hygiene infrastructure, awareness programs, and sustainable solutions. schools and colleges are finally starting to see that managing menstrual hygiene is tied into better attendance, better health awareness, more dignity, and overall student wellbeing. they are integrating this into their campus initiatives.