Hair-Raising Story This, Literally

It's called the crowning glory. But, scientifically classified as a dead part of our body, it's hardly given a second thought once it falls off the head.

Yet, waste hair is generating precious foreign exchange, and providing employment to thousands of illiterate and literate women and men in a remote village in Andhra Pradesh.

Besides, it's been a source of income for over 3 million women in India over the past 10 years, thanks to an entrepreneurial effort by Mr V. Ravindra Nath, who set up a hair processing unit in a small village called Tetali in Tanuku.

The representatives of the Indian Hair Industries Pvt Ltd reqularly visit villages throughout the country, traveling "door to door" purchasing premium, high quality human hair. This hair is processed at the unit in Tetali after inspection and grading.

The processing department of over 2,000 female workers manually sort, wash, dry, and bundle the hair. It's then exported to wig, hairpiece and hair extension manufacturers in China, Korea, Indonesia, Italy, Austria, Germany and other European countries.

The hair is also sold to individual users and salons. The company also purchases waste salon hair, which is used for Amino Acid manufacturing to produce L-Cystine.

Though hair export is not a new business in India (in fact, a major success during the 1960s), it is said to have gone into near extinction in 1972 due to sudden fashion changes in Europe. It was again revived in 1980s.

It was in the 90s that Mr. Nath set up his unit on the advise of the former head of a hair processing unit. The unit presently exports more than 300-400 metric tonnes of hair per year.

Mr. Nath says he's set up the unit because it's 100 percent labour oriented and provides employment to a large number of illiterate men and women.

"With high and sophisticated technology, we can't do away with poverty in the country. Basically, India is man-powered. If we utilise human resorces properly that will change our economy," he says.

The company, whose export turnover was Rs 23 crores in 1999-2000 and is expected to increase to Rs 30 crores in 2000-01, is the largest processing unit in India, he claims.

The unit is providing employment not just to illiterate men and women, but also people with no knowledge of agricultural and construction related works, the aged and the physically challenged, he says.

"Besides being a source of revenue for women wanting to cut their hair, lakhs of poor people involved in procuring waste hair make 50-100 rupees per day," Nath adds.

Moreover, the company buys Rs. 7-8 crores worth of hair every quarter from the Tirupati Tirumala Temple, where lakhs of pilgrims donate their hair every day.

However, Mr. Nath, who won the national export award twice, is not too happy with the quality as well as the way in which the TTD functions in this respect.

TTD officers auctioning the hair want the prices to be unreasonably hiked at every auction. This is despite that due to intense competition, TTD is offered the best price in the industry, he says.

"For example five years ago, the long hair price at TTD was Rs 900 per kilogram. Now, this price is above Rs 6000/kg. We are offering very high prices due to internal competition," he complains.

"But, the officers are always troubling exporters. They take deposits and keep quiet for a long time. Last time they delayed refund of our deposits by more than two months. Sometimes, there is a discrepancy in quality and quantity of the hair supplied," he rues.