Tamil Nadu: Salt produce hit as rain lashes Southern districts

MADURAI: Rains lashed parts of Kanniyakumari and its neighbouring Tirunelveli and Thoothukudi district on Tuesday night, providing a much needed respite from the heat.

The much awaited rain cheered the people, however wreaked havoc for several manufacturers largely relying on the salt industry in Thoothukudi.

According to D Chandra Menon, the president of Tuticorin Small Scale Salt Manufacturers, the sudden intervention of rainfall has affected the salt production in Thoothukudi.

In the last year, the annual production achieved was only around 50 to 60 per cent due to unseasonal rains, he noted. He wondered if Thoothukudi would witness less production this year due to rains.

He further said that the shortage is acute this year with the production going down by as much as half. Salt stocks dwindled drastically and the spike in demand has jacked up the price, he added.

As of now, the price of a tonne of manufactured salt ranges from Rs 3,000 to the maximum of Rs 5,000, he noted. He also noted that owing to the high price, last week, a consignment of salt was shipped from Gujarat, the largest producer in India, to Thoothukudi to cater to the demands of traders. It carried almost 35,000 tonnes of salt from Gujarat, he said.

MSP Thenraja, secretary of Tuticorin Salt Merchants Association, said a tonne of salt in Gujarat was priced Rs 1,500 and the next consignment has also been shipped from Gujarat and expected to reach Thoothukudi in another few days. A spell of rain would cause a halt in production for at least 10 days, he added.