Leather Park proposal will move Kanpur cluster away from the Ganges
The authorities in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh have begun to talk more positively about the local leather cluster, centred on Kanpur.
Following lengthy closures of more than 200 tanneries in the cluster in 2019, which the authorities claimed was necessary to lower levels of pollution in the River Ganges, there were fears that many leather manufacturing facilities may never reopen.
Now Uttar Pradesh has approved the construction of a new leather park near the village of Ramaipur. Local media reports suggest around 100 hectares of land have already been purchased for the construction of the new leather park and that the new set-up will be able to accommodate 150 newly built tanneries, creating as many as 50,000 jobs, including indirect employment.
Most of Kanpur’s tanneries are in the district of Jajmau, two kilometres or so from the sacred river. There are also tanneries at Banthar and Unnao, which are also close to the Ganges, although on the other bank.
Ramaipur is only 15 kilometres from Jajmau, but a move there would take the leather industry away from the river.
