The economic slowdown is taking a toll on the small-scale Holi colours industry in Uttar Pradesh. The industry, which is largely unorganised and with practically no quality control mechanism, is likely to take a beating of about 20 per cent this season, as against a year-on-year growth of 20 per cent.

“Due to the downturn, the turnover of the Holi colours industry is estimated to be only Rs 100 crore in UP this year, as against about Rs 124 crore last year,” Uttar Pradesh Dyes and Chemicals Association general secretary RK Saffar told Business Standard.

The colour units are located in Hathras, Agra, Kanpur, Ghaziabad and Mathura districts of the state. Interestingly, the Hathras industry, which is famous for original Holi colours and caters to other states including Gujarat, Maharashtra and Chhattisgarh, is largely unaffected by the slowdown and will return growth figures due to sales in other states.

“Hathras will transact business worth Rs 50 crore even this year, a growth of nearly 20 per cent. Besides, people now prefer gulal, especially herbal gulal (eco-friendly scented natural dye in different colours) over chemical colours,” said Devendra Kumar Goel, promoter of Shakti Enterprises, which purchases herbal gulal in bulk from Kanpur and Ghaziabad and re-package it in small quantities for retail sale.

While, synthetic colours are selling upwards of Rs 15 per 5 gm, gulal and herbal gulal are being sold for Rs 10 per 100 gm. Colours even contain traces of lead and cadmium. Scientific tests have verified that these cause skin abrasions, skin and eye irritation, allergy and can trigger asthma. Harmful chemicals are used to prepare synthetic dyes like Rhodamine-B (for pink/red), Malachite (green), methyl-violet (violet), Orange II (orange) and Auramine (yellow).

“Most Holi colours are chemical dyes of non-food commodities meant for textiles, paper and leather,” Saffar said.

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