CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu’s Sivakasi, which accounts for 90 per cent of the cracker industry in India, is staring at a black Diwali and equally dark uncertain future. With cracker production in the units already down by about 60 per cent, no capital in hand, huge pending dues and bank loans mounting up, the cracker manufacturers are spending sleepless nights.
The pandemic had already broken the backbone of the industry, yet the manufacturers had hopes that Diwali business would help them to overcome the bad times.As the manufacturing units were gearing to dispatch their products, few state governments prohibited firecrackers but the final deadly blow came on Monday for the industry after the National Green Tribunal (NGT) banned sale and use of firecrackers across the country where air quality is poor.
Sivakasi houses over 1,100 firecracker manufacturing units its over eight lakh people who are employed in the industry are now clueless about their future after the ban order. According to men in the business, crackers produced in Sivakasi amounts to a retail sales of nearly Rs 6,000 crore annually.
“For others, Diwali is just a festival but for us it is the only source of our livelihood when around 80 per cent of our business takes place. The entire year we work hard in making new crackers to attract customers in Diwali. We produce only after fully complying with the pollution guidelines.
The order has sent shockwaves across the industry,” said Rajendra Raja, vice-president, Indian Fireworks Manufacturers’ Association. “This year’ business is already down by almost 60 per cent and the ban order has just added to our woes,” said Raja According to S Balaji, secretary of Tamil Nadu Fireworks and Amorces Manufacturers Association (TANFAMA), the majority of the business happens on credit as small retailers from North India make bulk purchases from the manufacturers by paying them some advance amount. They pay the remaining amount only after selling the stock. “We genuinely don’t know what lies ahead for the industry,” he added.
Small business owners have nowhere to go
Even as big manufacturers are slowly shifting to other businesses, the small manufacturers have no other ways to survive. They are in the business of making crackers for over decades, said Manivannan S, a cracker manufacturer in Sivakasi.