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Indrani Dutta

As many as 231 tanneries in West Bengal will have to relocate themselves by February 28 as the Supreme Court has asked the State Government to sever the water and electricity connections to these units.

KOLKATA, Feb. 7

WITH the deadline for relocating tanneries approaching, the leather exporting community is in the throes of uncertainty, fearing that their costs will go up if they have to bring leather from other States to make up for the loss of tanning capacity.

As many as 231 tanneries in West Bengal will have to relocate themselves to the new leather complex being set up by the Government by February 28. The State Government has been asked by the Supreme Court to sever the water and electricity connections to these units.

The eastern region exported around Rs 736 crore worth of finished leather, and other leather items between April and October 2001. Of this, the major constituent was finished leather exports (Rs 71.03 crore) and leather goods (Rs 364 crore).

Government officials are still mulling their options in this regard even as they point out that while all the tanneries have been allotted their land at the Calcutta Leather Complex (CLC) they could not begin construction, as many clearances were required. Nearly 18 months were required for all the clearances to fall in place. "We are concerned over the imminent loss of capacity as also employment," sources said.

Many big names in the tanneries sector will be affected by this order delivered by the apex court in August last year. These include Alam Tanneries, Taj Leathers and Hupsum Tanners. Together these tanneries have a daily capacity of 1.5 lakh sq ft.

The closure will impact exports and also domestic sector. At least three big shoe manufacturers are located here including the MNC Bata which has its single largest factory located in West Bengal.

Pointing out that with a total capacity of 500 sq ft, the city now accounts for 12 per cent of the total industry capacity. Industry sources said the tanneries that were being ordered to close down account for nearly 50 per cent of the city's tanning capacity.

The tanners were a divided house in the absence of any umbrella organisation to lobby their cause. Sources said that while they were an agitated lot they did not have any clear course of action before them at this critical juncture. However, Business Line learnt that none of the 231 tanners who were in the first lot to clear their payments for acquiring land at CLC was allotted plots.

Apart from the issue of clearances, the looseness of the soil at CLC, which was once a marshy land, is a forbidding factor. "I first have to allow the soil to become compact," Mr S.S. Kumar, Chairman of Titan Leathers Pvt Ltd, (who has taken a plot at CLC) said, adding that otherwise the project cost would increase due to the need for additional support for the equipment.

The lease agreement drawn up by the Government was also bothering tanners as they felt there were several aspects which need to be sorted out with the Government. A Government official, however, countered this by saying that several tanners were about to seal the agreement.

Meanwhile, some progress has been made regarding the setting up of one of the most critical components of the project - the common effluent treatment plant. MLD Dalmiya Construction Ltd, the BOT party entrusted with the Rs 300-crore project, has opened the price bids of the five companies which had responded to its global tender. While one company was disqualified, four have been short-listed.

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