Salt pans in the Vedaranyam area here have resumed production after about six months, as the procurement prices have gone up now considerably.

They had shut down operations in July last year due to a steep fall in procurement prices.

Usually, salt production in the region goes on for nine months a year — January to September. The production is suspended during the monsoon (October to December) in the state as pans mostly remain inundated.

Procurement price down

“Last year, production progressed at a slow pace and came to a halt in July as the procurement price fell to about ₹450-600 per tonne, which was just half of the usual rate. As salt pan owners started witnessing huge losses, production came to a halt,” Secretary of the Vedaranyam Small Scale Salt Producers’ Federation V Senthil said.

Due to this, salt was being brought from Gujarat to Tamil Nadu, he added. “This year, salt procurement price rose to about ₹950-1,200 per tonne and works have commenced in all pans now,” he informed.

Salt is being produced here on a large scale both for household consumption and commercial use. The produce is sent to the market by trucks, Senthil said.

Market conditions and salt production scenario in Gujarat, the largest producer of salt in the country, determine demand and procurement price across all salt production centres in the country, including Vedaranyam belt.

Salt is produced on about 10,000 acres along Vedaranyam coast in various villages, including Agasthyampalli, Kodiakadu, Kadnelvayal and Vedaranyam.

With the production of over 4.5 lakh tonnes of salt a year, Vedaranyam occupies the second position in Tami Nadu in salt production, he said. Over 25,000 workers are engaged in production activities in this area. However, during 2015, the production fell to 3.5 lakh tonnes, Senthil added

Published on February 3, 2016