Punjab leather industry cries for quality hide

05 Jul '05

2 min read

The leather industry of Punjab is facing a shortage of quality hide due to social and political pressure even though cattle head count of the state stands only second to Uttar Pradesh in the country.

The prevailing ban on slaughter, lack of proper flaying (removal of skin) and finally poor quality leather has turned to be the bane for the industry.

According to Mr Ashok Sharma, the Council of Leather Exports (CLE) member based at Jalandhar, the last decade has witnessed a marked decline in the quality and quantity of hides and skins with the rejection rate going as high as over 75 per cent even though the defects due to manual flaying could be easily rectified.

The Governemnt has been urged throught he offices of the Council of Leather Research to undertake pilot projects to set up large cattle farms and open large slaughter houses in each district.

The President of the Punjab Leather Federation, Jalandhar, Parveen Kumar, quoted that the state government was unwilling to set up another treatment plant at the leather complex in Kapurthala, leading to many industrialists turning away from setting units there.

Sharma conveyed that while cheap Chinese leather goods are flooding Indian markets, Indian leather goods has shown its excellent performance in Chinese markets, also registered an export growth of over 100 percent in 2004-05.

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