Agra footwear units seek more cut in raw material prices

Shortly after the Union petroleum ministry indicated a possibility of a further cut in the prices of petrol and diesel in view of the falling global oil prices, the cottage footwear units of Agra have started demanding a reversal of raw material prices to pre-hike rates.

A meeting of the Agra Joota Kutir Udyog Dastkar Sangh (AJKUDS) was held in the town recently, in which, the cottage unit owners demanded that the wholesale and retail prices of raw material should be brought down by 20 per cent, to the rates prevalent six months back.

AJKUDS president Rajesh Kumar Jatav said that when the central government had raised the prices of petrol and diesel about six months back, the traders and stockists had raised the prices of the material by 20 per cent, citing a rise in transportation and other allied expenses.

Although the government had cut down fuel prices early this month, the benefits of this decrease had not been passed on by the stockists to the cottage footwear units. This meant that the end-users were still forced to buy the raw material at higher prices, while the stockists and retailers were reaping increased profits.

He asserted that if the stockists and retailers of raw materials did not pay heed to the demands of the cottage industries, the footwear units will have to seek an intervention of the state government on the issue.

Notably, the cottage footwear units of the town produce nearly 70 per cent of the total domestic footwear production in Agra. However, in terms of infrastructural and economic development packages, these units have always claimed to have been left out.

The cottage footwear units, which have been facing financial crunch due to their dependence on an internal credit system of the industry, are always teetering on the verge of collapse under mounting interest on the loans.

If the raw material prices are indeed cut down by 20 per cent as demanded by the industry, it could prevent dozens of cottage units from going under from the pending loans, while also marginally increase their profit margins.