The once famous Kolhapuri slippers have given way to other players as the markets of Kolhapur display more designs from Rajasthan and Gujarat with most of the authentic workshops in Kolhapur downing their shutters.
Raw materials are expensive by almost 50 percent, and the best leather is being exported, market sources say.
Kolhapuri chappals (slippers) are not protected by the patent act, so markets are flooded with cheap imitations made of plywood instead of leather made by craftsmen of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.
Customers in big cities buy cheap imitations as they are unable to differentiate between authentic and an imitation.
Workshops earn a margin of Rs20 per pair, which gets divided amongst craftsmen who work there and with falling demand the craft might soon die out.
Almost 20 percent of the workshops in most neighbourhoods have shut down and remaining craftsmen might be Kolhapur's last generation craftsmen.
The initiative by Leather Development Corp of Maharashtra allocating Rs2.5 crore 10 years ago to help market and export these products has not been successful.
marketing@alchempro.com
