Budget blow to Mangalore tiles

The 8 per cent central excise duty on terracotta roof tiles and allied products, imposed in the 2006-07 Budget, has delivered a body blow to an industry which is ailing and, if anything, needs help to survive because of the unique usefulness of the product.

As a result of this new impost, the industry will be losing Rs 800 on every 1000 roof tiles it sells, says M A Abdurahiman, president of Calicut Tile Manufactures Association.

Factories producing terracotta roof tiles, popularly known as Mangalore tiles, stretch all along the west cost and have been a distinctive part of the landscape. The technology to manufacture the tiles was brought to the region by western missionaries over a hundred years ago at a time when it had no large industry.

The new tax is something the oldest industry in Kerala, which dates back to 150 years, cannot afford as it is already facing a declining trend for several reasons. Not only has demand been affected in recent times, input costs have gone up too. The slackness in demand has prevented the industry from raising prices sufficiently to compensate for the rising costs. Hence, there is no cushion to absorb the new impost.

As many as nine of the 16 terracotta tile units in Calicut are not working, being either under lockout or closed for good. Some of the units that are permanently shut are Puthiyara Tile Works, Bharath Tile Works, Ferok Tile Works, National Tile works, Swadeshi Tile Works, Malabar Tile Works and Meenakshi Tile Works.

There are 180 roof tile companies in the state directly employing 3,000 people. This is down from the earlier 6,000.

New building materials and housing techniques have paved the way for the gradual death of this industry. The replacement of bungalows with high rise apartments has added to the trend. Modern roofing materials like asbestos, plastic, and curved sheets made of aluminum or GI sheets are now widely used in preference to terracotta tiles. Newer materials are used because tile roofs are costly to construct and difficult to maintain.

Traditionally, tile roofs are arranged on a wooden framework. Rising cost of wood and carpentry skills have been impediments. But most important is the difficulty faced by the industry over its basic raw material, clay. Clay topsoil used to make the tiles denudes the earth, degrades the environment and has, therefore, come in for regulation.

According to Kerala's Land Utilisation Act of 1956, it is unlawful to excavate clay from paddy fields and riverbeds. In 1997, the then industrial minister Susheela Gopalan had appointed an expert committee to study the availability of terracotta. The report recommended an amendment to the Act.

Last October, the chief minister called a high-level meeting to sort out the issues affecting the ailing terracotta industry. T O Sooraj, the then director, department of industry and commerce, and Krishnakumar, director, department of mining and geology were given the responsibility to submit a report. The report proposed that after excavation land needed to be reclaimed. A final decision is yet to come.

Ironically, terracotta tiles are now considered chic by prosperous people and regularly used in urban bungalows as an embellishment. They are now usually set up over steel frames. Plus, realisation is dawning that a tile roofing over a concrete roof reduces heat as well as the energy bill. Hence, there is a simultaneous small but steady demand for these tiles.

It is this that keeps many tile makers going. They are carrying on, though current margins are very low, in the hope that the move to return to traditional materials will gain ground and there will be better times ahead.