| The state's leather industry, which flourished during the 1980s, is facing a crisis because most of the leather tanneries and leather goods manufacturers here are rapidly shifting to other businesses or closing down their business. |
| According to industry sources, leather exports of Jalandhar, which stood at around Rs 200 crore in 2004-05, declined to Rs 145 crore in 2005-06, a decline of 30 per cent. |
| The state has failed to attract any fresh investments to the leather sector, estimated at Rs 4,500 crore in India. |
| The largely traditional and family-based industry in the city has also failed to attain an organised corporate status and no specialised parks for it have come up in the recent years. With just one organised slaughter house operational at Derabassi, animals were taken to states like Uttar Pradesh and Delhi for slaying, which increases the production cost. At present, more than 40 per cent of the raw material is purchased from outside the state. |
| "We have even approached the Prime Minister to highlight our problems, but still nothing has been done to address our grievances," said Ajay Sharma, a member of the council of leather exporters. |
| He said the major problem was that the government has not even recognised it as an industry. Most of the leather units are confined to Jalandhar, Phillaur and Malerkotla but all are unorganised. |
| "We have even filed various petitions in the Punjab and Haryana High Court against the government but they are still pending," Sharma said. |
| "The state has also failed to benefit from the Rs 400 crore earmarked in the Union Budget for the modernisation scheme..." said another entrepreneur. |
| Nothing has been done so far to form the special purpose vehicle to set up an effluent treatment plant though the high court had delivered the verdict to do so six months ago. |
| Despite several attempts, Punjab Industry Minister Manoranjan Kalia could not be contacted for his views on the plight of the leather industry. |
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