The craft of making black metal statues has long thrived in Hyderabad — mostly in the dingy lanes of Lad Bazar near Charminar, which is well known for lac bangles.
But craftsmen are now finding it difficult to maintain their margins, mainly due to rising costs of raw material — aluminium scrap, from molten automobile engines and other spare parts — and due to competition building up in other states, including Karnataka, Delhi, Gujarat, Maharashtra and Rajasthan.
Aluminium scrap is now sold for Rs 80 a kg, up from less than Rs 60 a kg couple of years ago.
Traders are losing a sizable chunk of the market. With no proper networking, most traders rely on their individual skills to get new customers. Trade volumes are not known, as the trade is scattered.
According to the statue makers, the trade has been progressively declining over the past five years. However, some are successful in retaining the interest of traders in the US and West Asian countries, which have a high Indian population.
They make idols of every size and shape, priced between Rs 150 and Rs 50,000. Idols of Lord Ganesh are the flavour. “We make a variety of Ganesh idols,” says an idol maker at Lad Bazar. Idols of gods and goddesses — Lakshmi, Saraswati, Shiva — weighing 500 gm and above also find a lot of buyers. The heavier ones weigh even 100 to 150 kg.
The polishing gives the statues an antique-like look, the USP of these statues. But this gets the traders into trouble, particularly from the customs and the archeological department, as they resemble genuine antique pieces. Often, this is a bottleneck in exporting the merchandise.
There have been instances of local traders tying up export deals with their counterparts in other states, to avoid the circuitous route of getting permission from the archeological department to export idols.
Several black metal statue manufactures are even migrating to Delhi, Meerut and Pune to explore export avenues, according to Osman Khan, an idol manufacturer.
There are also some emotive issues involved. “Some people do not want us to make idols of other faiths. But we see this as a livelihood,” said another idol maker.
“The demand for these idols started in Hyderabad. But now many of the experienced workers and dealers are operating from other states,” said P Srinivas Rao, who has been selling idols for two decades. Also, it is difficult for craftsmen to introduce new designs, motifs or shapes more frequently, as the dies are difficult to make.
