September is the time when production goes into the fifth gear. Workers are paid overtime wages. Lorries carrying cracker cartons leave Sivakasi by the dozen everyday.
Today, employees leave for home early as a majority of about 750 fireworks units in the Sivakasi belt of Virudhunagar district have been working only four days a week from August 25.
Information of entry of the Chinese dragon trickled into Sivakasi in the post-Deepavali market feedback of 2013. It was brought to the attention of Union Minister of State for Commerce Nirmala Sitharaman on September 11, 2014.
“We are happy about the proactive measures initiated by Ms. Sitharaman. At the same time, we are much worried about the increasing number of varieties reaching India – from just 10 in 2013 to 210 in 2015,” says G. Abiruben, president, Tamil Nadu Fireworks and Amorces Manufacturers’ Association (Tanfama).
A positive aspect has been the seizure of Chinese fireworks in the last couple of years, starting from sealing of 50 containers in Mumbai to the recent sealing of two godowns in Punjab.
According to A. P. Selvarajan, former Tanfama president, the contraband is smuggled in containers along with toys and electronic goods.
“Chinese crackers find their way into India along with items imported for Holi celebration,” he says. He wants surveillance to be tightened at ports. The products, industry leaders suspect, are stocked in unconventional places and sold through temporary retailers, mostly platform vendors. “It should be possible to track the route of clandestine entry from the platform,” says Mr. Selvarajan.
Harmful products
The implications of the Chinese invasion into the fireworks industry, according to industry sources, are manifold. Besides severely impacting the Sivakasi industry, which accounts for an annual turnover of Rs. 6000 crore, the products are harmful, especially for children.
“From 1920, the Sivakasi industry has been producing user-friendly products. But the Chinese goods are made with potassium chlorate, which is a high-end explosive and a banned chemical. Who will be answerable in case accidents occur when children use Chinese products,” asks Mr. Abiruben. Sivakasi units use only aluminium powder and nitrate of salts.
Apart from safety concerns, the Chinese products mean a loss of revenue to the country’s exchequer. “Our products attract 12.5 per cent excise duty, 15 per cent value added tax and two per cent central sales tax. The loss of tax revenue is directly proportional to the volume of sale of Chinese fireworks,” says Mr. Abiruben.
The disposal of Chinese goods, whenever they are confiscated, may be a problem for the enforcement officials. Mr. Abiruben says Sivakasi units are well-equipped to dispose of the contraband in a scientific manner and they are willing to take up the task. With sensitisation and adequate manpower, it will be possible to stop the Chinese threat.
Mr. Selvarajan says that immediate action is necessary to save the Sivakasi industry as, otherwise, the Chinese units are capable of coming out with products using aluminium powder and nitrate in two years.
