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Indian exporters of human hair, a majority of them small enterprises, are facing a peculiar challenge - raw human hair is allegedly being smuggled across India's land borders to countries like Myanmar, thereby hurting potential foreign exchange earnings.
Exporters of raw human hair - collected mainly from temples and households, largely from Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu, but also from other parts of the country - cater to the beauty market in the Western world.
The industry complains that raw hair, a household waste product collected by the industry for processing and selling, is being collected by smugglers from Myanmar and transported in trucks through the borders.
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"The livelihood of millions of Indians depends on the collection, processing and sale of human hair. Besides, it also brings foreign exchange earnings. Smuggling is a threat to both," said Benjamin Cherian, president of the All India Human Hair Exporters Association, and managing director of Raj Hair International Pvt Ltd.
The industry has requested the government to take strict action against smugglers, including putting regulations in place to prohibit transporting of raw hair through the borders.
Human hair export from India is a Rs 2,500 crore business (about $400 million at the current exchange rate), and the country is a key player in the global beauty industry. China is a much bigger player, with hair exports of $5 billion. However, Indian hair is considered more suitable for Caucasian hair, and this has increased its acceptability. Even the Chinese industry mixes some Indian hair to improve the quality of the hair it sells, said Cherian.
Two types of hair are collected in India. One is Remy hair (the highest grade of human hair, a preferred choice for hairpieces and wigs because it creates a natural look) collected from temples where pilgrims tonsure their hair as part of a religious vow. The Tirumala Tirupathi Devasthanam (TTD) is where the most such tonsuring happens. The temple authorities classify it and sell it on the basis of global tenders through the Metal Scrap Trading Corporation, earning Rs 300-400 crore a year, according to industry sources.
The second kind is non-Remy hair - household waste collected by gypsy groups or nomads from villages, who sell it to dealers in hair, who in turn sell it to hair export firms. The latter process it, make it reusable and export it to the West, where it is used to make wigs and hairpieces. Several lakhs of people work in the collection, stocking, and processing of hair.
The price of Remy hair depends mainly on the length and strength of the hair. The price of Remy hair sourced from TTD is as high as Rs 24,000 a kg. Considering its lack of availability, Remy hair comprises only 15 per cent of total exports, the remainder being non-Remy hair. The price of non-Remy hair is Rs 3,000-3,500 a kg, on average.
Smugglers deploy people to collect raw non-Remy hair from rural areas, export it in bulk through the borders, and have it processed in Myanmar. The collectors get a 20-30 per cent commission. The hair is transported mainly to China where wigs and hairpieces are made, the industry alleges.
By a rough estimate around 3,000-4,000 kgs of raw hair, worth Rs 1.2 crore at the current market price, is smuggled through the borders every day. Bundles of hair cannot go unnoticed by the authorities, because of their sheer volume, said an industry source.
To ramp up growth, the industry has revived its association, which is now looking to improve value addition in export products and make it a Rs 5,000-7,000 crore business in the next five years. It can export wigs and hairpieces as value-added products, to increase foreign exchange earnings, said Cherian.
