Leather industry in Agra on a rough patch

Deserted public spaces and shops with closed shutters are a common scene here in Agra, Uttar Pradesh, these days. The UP government had announced weekend lockdown in the state following the aftermath of the second wave of Covid-19 pandemic. City of Agra, at present, has nothing much to offer to a crowd that no longer throngs its lanes.

Aftershock of Covid-19 pandemic across the industry is well-known, but the extent of financial crippling can be seen here at the Sadar Bazar market of Agra city. The tourist bazaar is known as the largest wholesale market of leather in Asia with over 300 shops operating in leather goods such as shoes, belts, handbags and jackets. BizzBuzz spoke with the shopkeepers at Sadar Bazar of Agra to know their business operations amid stringent weekend lockdown, absence of tourists and zero demand in exports.

38 year-old Kishan Yadav expressed his helplessness on the poor performance of the business. "We don't have any fresh stocks of any leather goods for two years. Our major source of income was from the exports, but there is absolutely no demand from the overseas market. We had to relieve 120-150 workers from our factory last year," Yadav said. Similar sentiments are shared by fellow business owners in the Sadar Bazar area who say that the Yogi Adityanath-led government has done little to nothing to help the leather industry here in Agra.

"After the second wave set in, we had to pull down our shutters with uncertainty. Now for over two months we have weekend lockdowns which dissuades local tourists from coming here. Agra is a major tourist destination because of the wholesale leather market. But where is the support to our industry?" questioned 54-year-old Dinesh Singh, a government emporium employee.

According to the leather entrepreneurs, the business of an average shopkeeper now has reduced from Rs1 lakh to Rs75,000 a day in 2019 to Rs10,000- Rs15,000 in 2021. The industry production, according to the local leather experts, has reduced to zero as of July 2021. With localities anticipating a third wave of Covid-19 by August-end to September later this year, any stimulus package is yet to be announced by the State government. No concrete assurance has been offered by the State government to resume operations at the leather factories situated in the Meerut-Agra highway or to boost domestic demand.