‘Future uncertain with the new government,’ say tannery MSMEs of UP
The leather industry in Kanpur which is famous for its leather goods and is one of the oldest industry has become dead months before the start of Kumbh and is still dead even after the culmination of Kumbh.
The tannery MSMEs of Uttar Pradesh are uncertain about their future growth with the formation of the new government post the General Elections of 2019.
Last year, the Uttar Pradesh government ordered the closure of 264 tanneries located along the Ganga river region in Kanpur and Unnao to facilitate clean water with fewer pollutants to flow in Sangam for Kumbh Mela in Allahabad. The tanneries were forced to be shut from December 15, 2018 to March 15, 2019.
According to a KNN India news report, even after the culmination on Kumbh Mela in March, the tannery units in the state have still not been opened.
The leather industry in Kanpur, which is famous for its leather goods, is one of the oldest in the state. It employs over three lakh workers from socially and economically backward communities.
Speaking to KNN India, Taj Alam, President of Uttar Pradesh Leather Industry Association, said, “For the past six months tanneries are closed and a large number of people engaged in this business are unemployed. Even the tannery owners are clueless about what to do with their machinery, drums, and the infrastructure that they have. They do not know when it will be reopened or even have doubts about whether they will be reopened again or not.”
Alam added that there has been no response from the government to the number of representations the tanneries have sent.
According to various reports, the leather and leather goods export business and domestic sales from Kanpur and Unnao is around 20 billion on a monthly basis and the complete closure would hit business worth over 120 billion. Unnao district has seven meat processing units with a combined annual turnover of Rs 100 billion.
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