CHALLENGES AND PROBABLE OPPORTUNITIES OF

LEATHER SECTOR IN KASHMIR REGION

Mubarik Ibni Majid#

Final year, Government College of Engineering & Leather Technology, Salt Lake City (Sector-3),
Kolkata-700098
#
Safapora Ganderbal, Kashmir. India-193504

Abstract:

Every industrial or service sectors poses certain opportunities and simultaneously

challenges to the one who would like to face it, has a will to take benefits from it, make economy
from it, or whether a step ahead taking an opportunity to socially serve it.
In this paper the author has pictured the challenges and opportunities for the
entrepreneurs of the Kashmir region, to establish the leather sector there, which is right now not
organized in the region and at a glance put different data which can motivate an entrepreneur to
establish leather industry in the Kashmir region.

Introduction:

The leather industry utilizes the by-products of slaughterhouses and transforms the raw
Material hide/skin into various types of leather and manufactured end products. The leather
production chain has three processing stages, each requiring different combinations of materials,
inputs, labour and capital. The first stage is the recovery of raw materials that has direct links with
animal production activities. Hides and skins are recovered from dairy, draught animals or animals
from slaughter houses. The second stage is leather tanning and finishing, which involves capital
intensive operations. The third stage is the production of leather products, which is a labour
intensive activity. These three processing stages are linked to key commercial components of the
chain, such as the marketing of intermediate inputs, components and end products, trade and
consumption. The various inputs to the chain without which the chain cannot operate
competitively are qualified labour, design and art centres, components production, access to
chemicals, technical and administrative support institutions, research and development, training
and a set of adequate policies.
 The leather sector contributes the total 4billion$ market in Indian economy and main
contributing region are Chennai, Kanpur, Kolkata, Punjab, Agra. But this is very unfortunate that
kashmir region which produces about 5 million hide/skin annually and a potential of $1b market
there is hardly any contribution of leather market of this region in Indian economy.

Locations of Tanneries in Different Regions of India:

The tanning Industry in India is one of the most oldest and fastest growing industry in
South Asia . There are more than 2500 tanneries located in India with a total processing capacity
of 700000 tons of hides and skins per year. These tanneries are categorized into small, medium,
and large scale. Major tannery clusters in India are in Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh,
and Punjab. Nearly 90% of the tannery capacity in these four states only.
Live Stock Population in India as per Census 2007:
Since our raw material comes from live stock so we have to take a look at the live stock
population at a glance. Live stock population census in India is done after every 5 th year so we
have the latest data of year 2007 and simultaneously we have given a glance the 2003 and 1997
census. In India, livestock rearing is an integral part of its culture and is an important component
of the agricultural activities. Although the livestock includes cattle, buffaloes, sheep, goat, pigs,
horses, mules, donkeys, camels and poultry, the bovines and the small ruminants are the most
dominant feature of Indian agrarian scenario. Traditionally cattle are raised for draught power for
agricultural purposes, and cows and buffaloes for milk production. The cattle and buffaloes
provide economic stability to farmers in the face of uncertainties associated with farm production
in dry land/rain-fed cropped areas. Currently, most of the cattle are low producing non-descript,
indigenous breeds and only a small percentage (5-10 per cent) is of a higher breed (cross-bred
and higher indigenous breeds). Even in the case of buffaloes, there are very few high yield
animals (10–20 per cent). Sheep rearing is prevalent in many areas because of smaller herd sizes,
which are easy to raise and manage, providing year-round gainful employment to the small and
marginal farmers. Cattle and buffalo, which are the main milk-producing animals in the country,
constitute 61 per cent of the total livestock population in India. The average milk produced by
dairy cattle in India is 2.1 kg/day, Whereas, buffaloes produce 3.5 kg/day (MOA, 2004), which is
much less than the milk produced by cattle in the developed countries (IPCC Revised Guidelines,
1997). This is mainly due to the poor quality of feed available to the cattle, specially domesticated
in rural households, in spite of the low-energy value of feed intake. The livestock census is carried
out every 5 years.
LIVE STOCK POPULATION OF JAMMU AND KAHMIR

The geographic area of the state is 2,22,236 sq.km., which is 6.8 % of the country’s
geographic area. Jammu &Kashmir has a population of 10.07 million in 2001 (1.0 % of the
country’s population), of which rural population is75.1 % and urban population is 24.9 %.The
population density is very low i.e. 45persons per sq.km. The state has a forest cover of 21,237
sq.km. The milk production was 1414 thousand tones, egg production was 6370 lakhs and wool
production was 6200 thousand kgs in 2003-04. As per the last livestock census, conducted in 2008, the state
had 1.67% of Cattle, 1.06% of buffaloes ,5.55% of sheep, 1.65% of goats and 0.01% of pig population of the
country. The state has the largest population of yaks (72.71%) in the country. The poultry population is 1.14% of
the country’s total population.
In Jammu & Kashmir, the crossbred cattle have increased by 21.9% but indigenous cattle
have decreased by15.7% during the period between 17 th to 18th census. There is an overall
decrease of 2.9% in cattle population during the inter-censal period. The buffalo population has
increased sharply by 32.0%; sheep and goat population has increased by 7.6% and10.3%
respectively. The pig population has decreased by 83.3%. The total livestock in the state has
increased from9.229 million to 9.9 million between these two censuses showing an increase of
7.3%.
 The fowl population has increased by around 5.8% and the total poultry by 0.2%in the
state during the period. The duck and other birds have shown a decrease of 53.7% during the
period.

Live stock population:

%increase/decrease
Type of cattle 1997 2003 2007

Crossbred Cattle 1083 1320 1609 21.88

1500
indigenous cattle 2092 1764 -15.68
2995
Total cattle 3975 3084 -2.87
1372
buffaloes 787 1039 32.02
67
Yaks 33 47 42.42
40
Mithuns 0 24 58
4403
Total Bovines 3995 4194 4.98
3670
sheep 3170 3411 7.6
2265
Goats 1864 2055 10.25
1
pigs 12 2 -83.33
302
Others 188 238 26.6
10620
Total Livestock  9229 9900 7.2

Graphical Representation of livestock population:

Kashmir Region at a Glance in Leather Production:

In spite of producing 3.5 million sheep and goat skin annually Kashmir's leather industry loses a
big trade share to traders outside the state. In the absence of a tannery in Kashmir, hides and
animal skins produced in Kashmir are exported to tanneries outside only to be imported as leather
at a higher price.  Kashmir leather industry has the potential to generate $ 1 billion for state
economy annually, but for a lackadaisical government approach the industry loses billions every
year. Jammu and Kashmir is one of the voracious meat eaters in whole of India. Every year
people in the state consume around five million animals- sheep, goats and cattle- leaving the state
with plenty of raw material for the leather industry in the form of skins and hides. On an average
3.5 million sheep and goat skins plus 1.2 million cattle hides are present in the market every year.
The absence of a tannery in Kashmir however forces the people to sell these skins, at throwaway
prices to traders outside the state. These hides go out from Kashmir at an average price of about
175 INR per hide and return processed at the rate of 700 INR per skin. The skins produced in
Kashmir are among the best. "Because of its climate Kashmir provides one of the best hides in
entire world and treat with animals gently so the leather doesn't have any scratches". "The hides
produced are of a fine grainy type, best for shoes, jackets, purse and other fashion accessories"
Challenges of Kashmir Region not for Having Leather Industries:

Government Policies:
The Govt. should go for treatment plants and sewage disposal mechanism for different industries,
but they are not doing it, that is why no leather or any other industry is taking root. Even State
Industrial Development Corporation, (SIDCO) has reserved 1500 Kanals of land for the
development of a leather park in its 5000 Kanal huge industrial estate at Lassipora, Pulwama.
Some incentives have also been offered to entrepreneurs wishing to set up a leather processing
unit but most of them only on papers. Government officials say the construction work on the High
cost ETP, is going to start soon, but it is already a long wait for the aspiring entrepreneurs.

Environmental Aspects:
Environmental aspect is another hindrance for the leather industry as environmentalists are not in
favor of too many tanneries in Kashmir region. Environmentalists have always been against
setting up tanneries in Kashmir as it produces highly toxic effluents. The answer to this could have
come from the government which is not keen on setting up an ETP (Effluent Treatment Plant).
This could have solved the problem and pacified the green lobby, too.
Many NGO's and organizations working for the environment have been voicing their concern
against the establishment of leather tanneries, which produce highly toxic effluents. The non
construction of ETP is simply adding to the problem.
The absence of tanneries in Kashmir pushes up the production costs. Also, local artisans and
traders are forced to sell products at a low price to traders outside the state.

Other Infrastructural Facilities:

For any region, to snatch industry attention towards it, infrastructure plays an important role,
which is lacking in the Kashmir region as it don’t have the transportation facilities like railway, air,
and roadways, the major reason behind this is the geographical location of Kashmir region and
government has to go a long way to fight these constraint.

Probable Opportunities:

Every year people in the state consume around five million animals- sheep, goats and cattle-
leaving the state with plenty of raw material for the leather industry in the form of skins and
hides. On an average 3.5 million sheep and goat skins plus 1.2 million cattle hides are present in
the market every year. Unfortunately the absence of a tannery in Kashmir however forces the
people to sell these skins, at throwaway prices to traders outside the state. These hides go out
from Kashmir at an average price of about 175 INR per hide and return processed at the rate of
700 INR per skin.The Govt. should go a long way in developing and promoting the Leather
Industry in the State so that the plenty of raw material available in state will be converting into
finished leather to generate huge amount of money for state economy. As it is known that the raw
material in Kashmir region is available in cheapest rates and if hides are treated in the same state,
the leather will be in cheapest rate than other states. Therefore the leather industry of Kashmir
can compete not only with other states but also abroad.

Standard/Model Approach to Groom Leather Sector in Kashmir Region:

There can be different approaches to tackle a problem but as per the authors perspective the
most feasible has been described below-

Role of Govt. to Promote Leather Sector:

Three millions sheep hides are locally available as raw material for this which is otherwise
exported to other states of the country for processing and value addition. The Govt. should go a
long way in developing and promoting the Leather Industry in the State.
Development of proper industrial infrastructure and congenial industrial atmosphere in the state to
attract huge investments from Industry tycoons of the country and abroad, and give them some
relaxation in strict governmental regulations as well taxation exemption for certain time period.
Establishment of Common Effluent Treatment Plant as soon as possible in order to promote
leather sector in Kashmir region.

Promotion Of Enterpreneurship Among The Youth Of The Region:

In recent years, the promotion of entrepreneurship as a possible source of job creation,

empowerment and economic dynamism in a rapidly globalising world has attracted increasing
policy and scholarly attention. However, despite this attention, there has been no systematic
attempt to look at it from a youth angle. The tendency has been either to subsume the youth into
the general adult population or to ignore their efforts to forge a livelihood through enterprise
activities. This has resulted in the lack of an adequate understanding of the potential benefits of
youth entrepreneurship as a means of improving youth livelihoods.
Before looking at the potential benefits of promoting youth entrepreneurship, it is important to
have an understanding of what ‘youth entrepreneurship’ is. Related to this is the need to
understand the importance of promoting entrepreneurship in general and youth entrepreneurship
in particular. Thus, the key questions that this section addresses are: What is entrepreneurship?
What is youth entrepreneurship? What is the value of youth entrepreneurship? What are the social
attitudes towards youth entrepreneurship? Who are youth entrepreneurs? ‘Youth’ is defined by the
United Nations as those between 15-24 years of age. For the purpose of this paper, however, a
‘youth’ is defined as any person aged between 15-35 years of age.
‘youth entrepreneurship’ is defined as the “practical application of enterprising qualities, such as
initiative, innovation, creativity, and risk-taking into the work environment (either in self-
employment or employment in small start-up firms), using the appropriate skills necessary for
success in that environment a
It is now widely accepted that there are many good reasons to promote entrepreneurship among
young people. While caution should be exercised so that entrepreneurship is not seen as a ‘mass’
or wide-ranging solution which can cure all society’s social ills, as many experts such as Curtain
(2000) warn, it has a number of potential benefits. An obvious, and perhaps significant one, is
that it creates employment for the young person who owns the business.
This is especially the case in an economy subject to rationalization, change and restructuring.
Many experts believe that this could bring back the alienated and marginalized youth into the
economic mainstream (Curtain, 2000; White and Kenyon, 2000). There may also be a direct effect
on employment if new young entrepreneurs hire fellow youths from the ‘dole’ queues (Curtain,
2000). In this way, entrepreneurship could help address some of the socio-psychological problems
and delinquency that arise from joblessness (see Attachment 2).
Youth-run enterprises (YREs) also provide valuable goods and services to society, especially the
local community (OECD, 2001; Stone, et al., u.d). This results in the revitalization of the local
community. It has also been observed that new small firms tend to raise the degree of
competition in the product market, thereby bringing gains to consumers (Curtain, 2000). In
addition, the enterprises may create linkages between youth entrepreneurs and other economic
actors, such as through sub-contracting, franchising, and so on (White and Kenyon, 2000).
Youth entrepreneurship also promotes innovation and resilience as it encourages young people to
find new solutions, ideas and ways of doing things through experience-based learning (OECD,
2001; White and Kenyon, 2000). In certain circumstances, young entrepreneurs may be
particularly responsive to new economic opportunities and trends. This is especially important
given the on-going globalization process. It is increasingly accepted that youth entrepreneurs can
present alternatives to the organization of work, the transfer of technology, and a new perspective
to the market (White and Kenyon, 2000).
White and Kenyon further note that social and cultural identity is promoted through youth
enterprises, as is a stronger sense of community where young women and men are valued and
better connected to society. They note that youth enterprises give young people, especially
marginalized youth, a sense of ‘meaning’ and ‘belonging’. This can shape the identity of youth and
encourage others to treat them as equal members of society. A popularization and
democratization of entrepreneurship can allow the disadvantaged in society to succeed regardless
of social or family background (OECD, 2001).

Conclusion:

As the Author has tried his best to give the maximum possible picture in both the areas,
challenges and opportunities of Kashmir region in leather sector, as this is but obvious that if
there is no challenge at all then there will not be certainly any opportunity, as is the wise saying
that “if going is getting easy means you are going down hill” which also indicate that if an
individual is not facing challenges then he can not expect good returns. As the author himself
belongs to the youth community of Kashmir region, he himself finds all the opportunities despites
of several challenges.

Acknowledgement:

The author is highly thankful from his deep heart to his teacher Dr. Gautam Mukherjee, Professor,
GCELT, Kolkata, who is constant source of inspiration to the author during his B.Tech. and is a
constant support and source of encouragement to write this manuscript too. The author also
would like to convey his sincere thanks to Mr. Pankaj Kumar Tyagi, Asstt. Prof., Aligarh Muslim
University, Aligarh, for the necessary guidance while preparing this manuscript.

References:

1. Indian Network for climate change assessment, INCCA (2010)

2. MOA, 2005,17th Live stock population census all India survey report Department of animal
husbandry and daring, Ministry of Agriculture
3. Food and agricultural organisation of united nations, FAO(2006)
4. Food and agricultural organisation of united nations, FAO(2009)
5. FSI: 2009. FSI survey on assessing forest cover, trees outside forests, Forest survey of
India, Ministry of environment and forests, GOI.
6. CPCB, 1992 Comprehensive Industry document on slaughter house, meet processing.
CPCB, New Delhi.