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Our Bureau

Chennai , May 29

A delegation of tanners from Pakistan is looking at tying up with the leather industry here to source pollution treatment technology.

A team from Sialkot, Pakistan, a leading centre for tanneries, met representatives of the All-India Skin & Hide Tanners & Merchants Association (AISHTMA) and the Indian Leather Industry Foundation (ILIFO) and visited effluent treatment plants.

ILIFO is the outcome of a large-scale programme by the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation to tackle pollution problems in the leather industry and is supported by AISHTMA.

At a meeting here, Mr Shuja-uddin-Siddiqui, Director General, Pakistan Export Promotion Board, said that the industry is looking at sourcing cost-effective technology from the Indian industry. Tamil Nadu's tanneries have efficient systems for treating pollution. Mr Siddiqui commended the Central Leather Research Institute for technological development in pollution control.

The technology here is also low-cost compared to systems in developed countries, which are fast exiting tannery operations.

Mr Sh. Abdul Waheed, Managing Director, Phedra Industries (from Sialkot), said that discussions are at the initial stages but hoped to sign an agreement with ILIFO and other agencies for transferring technology.

Apart from Sialkot, the leather industry, particularly tanneries, is concentrated in Karachi, Lahore, Kasur, Multan and Peshawar. Plans are afoot to set up a common effluent treatment plant first in Sialkot where there are over 250 tanneries. Pakistan exports about $700 million worth of leather and leather products annually, Mr Waheed said.

Mr Rafeeque Ahmed, Chairman, Council for Leather Exports, said that there is also potential for greater interaction between the two industries. The business relationship could be carried forward into other areas. For instance, Pakistan could also source leather components from India.

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