The Hindu Business Line : Kolkata tanners form body to run effluent plants

A SECTION of city tanners has formed a body to run the common effluent treatment plants at the Kolkata Leather Complex (KLC), which is expected to become operational soon.

The Calcutta Tanneries Development Committee, formed last week, has a membership of about 50 tanners representing an impressive part of the industry's capacity, according to sources.

"The membership strength is expected to grow," an Indian Tanners Association source said.

The need to form a body rose out of the growing resentment among relocated tanners because of alleged "high charges" being levied for operating the CETP by M Dalmiya & Co, the private sector company which is implementing the KLC project on a build-own-and-transfer (BOT) basis.

Mr R Juneja, a tanner, said either the tanners or the Government should operate the services on a no-profit-no-loss basis.

State industry department officials associated with the project were, however, unwilling to accept that there was discontent among tanners over the issues of charges at the KLC.

"We are not aware of any such problem," they said adding that "things are ready at the KLC and two of the six modules of the CETP, the heart of KLC, have been completed by the State Government at a cost of Rs 32 crore."

State Industry Secretary, Dr Sabyasachi Sen, told Business Line that the CETP charges had been worked out by the Central Leather Research Institute (CLRI), and it included several aspects like minimum electricity consumption, depreciation and actual electricity consumption. The charges for other services, such as maintenance of roads, had been worked out by the Kolkata Metropolitan Development Authority.

Mr Chu of Universal Leather agreed that the rates had been worked out by the CLRI. Even so, he expressed reservations about the charges. Exporter-tanners like Mr Chu and Mr Juneja, among others, believe the cost of tanning will increase by at least Rs 4 per square feet after shifting to the KLC.

"This would translate into a eight to 20 per cent increase depending on the items being produced," they said.

Tanners also complained that much of the infrastructure was not ready at the KLC.

"We are facing many problems regarding water supply and power."

Sources at M L Dalmiya & Co, however, denied that any infrastructural work had been left incomplete.

"Nothing is pending from our side," they said, while dismissing complaints regarding high service charges. They said that tanners would enjoy definite cost advantages over their counterparts in other parts of the country.

"Why else would major companies like the Chennai-based Farida Exports want to set up a unit at KLC?" they asked.

State Government officials associated with the project, however, said that the roots of the problem regarding the charges were more deep-rooted.

"From inception, these units have been operating on the basis of free water (either filtered water supplied by the corporation or by sinking tubewells) and at times free power too. It is then not surprising that they are finding the charges high.

"They have been living on borrowed time for long and cannot continue to run their operations illegally, in violation of the apex court orders," Dr Sen said.

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