China is India's shareholder in the multi-billion rupee hair trade

- Rs 700 crore worth of human hair exports at risk

- Hotline-Bhalchandra Jani

- Haircuts that are considered useless in salons or beauty parlors may be considered as inferior waste, but some exporters sell hair abroad and earn Rs 700 crore a year.

A unique case has come to light in the midst of the Corona epidemic. Some Assam Rifles personnel have smuggled large quantities of human hair from Tirupati in Andhra Pradesh to China via Myanmar. Not long ago, he caught some unknown men with 150 bags full of human hair. Further investigation revealed that China smuggles about Rs 1,200 crore worth of human beings from various parts of India every year. The hair is transported to Thailand via Myanmar, where Chinese-owned companies make wigs from the hair and sell it internationally.

Reading this, one wonders if there is such a big human trade going on. Even trivial hair has become a source of income for some people.

It is the largest hub of the home industry in India. Tirupati Devasthan This magnificent temple at Tirumala has a section called Kalyan Katta. Here, 200 hairdressers simultaneously remove hair from the heads of children or men and women who are ready to have their hair cut. The amount of hair that some traders use to make wigs on a preference basis. Tirupati hair is in high demand in Europe and America. But now there is news that this export of hair will be pushed.

China now wants to impose its own monopoly on the very systematic Indian hair trade.

According to one manufacturer, India's human hair industry is currently growing at a rate of 40 per cent a year. Unless there is an unexpected change in circumstances, India's loose hair and wig exports will reach Rs 200 crore next year.

Indian hair quality is considered to be the best in the world. The texture, color and length of Indian human hair is superior to that of any other human hair in the world. That is why European-American wig makers are also the first choice for Indian hair.

Even so, the supply of European human hair is low. As well as the demand for European hair is low because Jews consider European women to be of weak character and their hair is too 'glamorous'! That is why Indian human hair is in high demand in the international market and its premium is spoken. Wigs made from this hair are sold for થી 1,000 to આ 2,000, depending on the length and style of the hair, while wigs made in China are sold for થી 500 to ૭ 800. However, China is India's biggest competitor in the global hair market.

To make a good wig you need high quality bulk hair. Which are not easily available in western countries. It is especially difficult to find the right length of hair in Europe. The modern young women there

Extensive use of soaps, shampoos, hair creams, synthetic dyes, etc. has lost the natural shine of their hair. Their hair is also getting plump due to synthetic chemicals. For such young women, the black, long, silky hair of Indian Sannari is very suitable.

In many places of pilgrimage in India, devotees have their heads shaved for the purpose of being considered a hindrance. Especially in Tirupati Balaji and other big temples in the south, hundreds of devotees shave their heads every day. In Tirupati, a large number of women also shave their beautiful, black, silky hair for the purpose of carrying the Lord at their feet. The same hair grows on the head of a European or American woman after two-four months.

More than 3 million devotees visit the Tirupati temple every year. Many of these true devotees express their faith by cutting their hair on the threshold of Lord Balaji. Last year, the temple authorities sold 450,000 kg of hair and raised Rs 4 crore. Hair revenue has declined this year as the temple is closed due to the corona.

The 300 hairdressers whose names appear on the temple's payroll work in three shifts. Their shaving rituals are performed so quickly that the viewer is surprised. It takes them only four minutes to shave off all the hair on a person's head and make a head.

This cut hair is separated into five grades. Depending on the quality, the price ranges from Rs. 50 to Rs. 2000 per kg. As long as the hair is black, shiny and smooth, its value is more pronounced. Very small, fragmented hair is converted into amino acids. From which an ingredient called L-cysteine ​​is obtained and used in chocolate and other nutritious foods!

The hair trade has become so lucrative for the Tirumala Tirupati temple that a quarter of the temple's total revenue comes from hair. In 16-7, the temple trust earned Rs 7 crore from the hair trade, which rose to Rs 50 crore in 2015. All the hair in this temple is bought by the powerful lobby of the twelve largest exporters who sell this hair to small wig manufacturers.

Wig manufacturers in Mumbai mainly get their hair in raw form from two places. In which the hair coming from Tirupati is called 'Sonu' because of its good quality. While the hair coming from Bhagyanagar and Bejwada pilgrimage sites in Andhra Pradesh near the border of Maharashtra is called 'brass'.

Some of Mumbai's wig manufacturers only manufacture wigs for the export market. Europe American women wear hair wigs of different colors to match the outfit. So this market produces good wig money. At one time there was a great demand for Indian wigs in Europe.

China is currently the world's largest exporter of hair. At one time, India was the largest exporter of human hair. In our country which is considered as junior level waste. He has proved to be a man who can make a lot of money in the world market today.

In terms of quality, the hair of Indians is second only to the hair of Italians. Ten years ago, about 12 crore rupees worth of hair was exported from India every twelve months. It has risen to Rs 200 crore. China exports hair of different lengths. In Indonesia, Chinese hair is shipped abroad after being cleaned after chemical processes. Were it not for China's competition, exporters would have traded Rs 1,000 crore by selling the hair of Indian nationals.

Hair exported from India is mostly sent to the European market after being cleaned in Chennai. Attractive vigo and high quality mascara are made from imported black and curly hair in Europe and America. In addition, eyebrow pencils for fashionable women are made from fine hair obtained from barber shops.

The hair obtained from the Tirupati temple accounts for 10% of the entire Indian market. The rest of the hair is obtained from other places of pilgrimage across the country, the little boy's babri unloading sites, beauty salons. Garbage weavers also get a lot of hair from the garbage heap. In Bhagyanagar village of Hospet district in Karnataka, 6,000 families make a living by simply removing the hair from the garbage.

Now the hair trade has taken a new turn with the production of amino acids. Very few readers will know that amino acids are made from hair and the supply of this hair is currently in short supply. This has led amino acid producers to demand a complete ban on hair exports.

Srinivas Sistine Limited, a company that manufactures amino acids, has set up a plant in the holy pilgrimage site of Tirupati. So that after the devotees who come to worship in the temple get their heads shaved, the amount of hair is pulled directly on the plant. In addition to Tirupati, barber shops in many religious places in South India make a living by selling scrap hair collected in their shops.

Numerous intermediaries buy the hair and send it to Calcutta, Delhi or Mumbai. All India Human Hair and Hair Products Exports and Dealers Association exports loose hair and hair wigs, switches etc. abroad.

According to a wig manufacturer, the consumption of genuine-fake hair wigs has also increased in India. The number of people who have resorted to the wig option is increasing if the scalp has been burnt, the head has undergone any kind of surgery, or the head has become bald due to side effects of the drug in the treatment of diseases like cholera, typhoid or cancer. Thus, producers need not despair even if the export market declines. Wig users in the backyard are on the rise.