Vinaya Deshpande Pandit explores Kolhapuri chappal industry, a 800-year-old, ₹1,400 crore craft with 1 lakh artisans, highlighting trade and tradition, but lacks policy impetus

Kohlapuri Chappals: A Traditional Artisanry in Maharashtra

• The process involves steeping the hide in a limestone slurry called chunadi for 10 days, choosing the freshest hide, and soaking it in a liquid with hirada and babul tree bark.

• The leather is stitched into a round bag and filled with the hirada-babul liquid again for eight days.

• The Kolhapuri chappal has a geographical indication (GI) tag since 2018, made in eight districts in Maharashtra and Karnataka.

• The decline in demand and knowledge for the original product is causing a loss of the market for Kolhapuri chappals.

• The leather processing for a Kolhapuri chappal takes 21 days, with each part made with different parts of the animal.

• The family business faces challenges due to lack of dignity of labour, lack of money, and a shortage of babul tree bark.

The Decline of Vegetable Tannag in Kolhapur, India

• The scarcity of vegetable tanning has led to the use of lab-made chemicals for tanning, causing the chappals to wear out faster.

• The number of vegetable tanning units in Kolhapur has decreased from 50 to 10.

• The price of chappals is decided based on the design, with the more intricate the hand work, the more expensive the chappal.

• The lack of international collaboration and exploitation of artisans is a major issue.

• Lalit Gandhi, president of MACCIA, calls for the Kolhapuri chappal to be patented to help the artisans.