MAHABIR AGARWAL

It’s a difficult time. Because plywood factories are mushrooming here. No license required, no monitoring of GST department. Permission is also not being taken from the Forest Department. An old hot press is brought and a pasting unit starts. After this, regardless of the quality of the goods, the goods that is produced is sold in the evening, neither the need of the bill nor the factory law followed. Consequently, the plywood market of Kolkata is running through a crisis. Shri Mahaveer Agarwal expressed his views In a conversation with The Ply Insight.

Market Finance Condition
It effected the demand for quality goods. Running the units with discipline and according to law is planning the medium units. It seems that Kolkata has become a mini Yamunanagar. At least ten units has come up

here in the lockdown period. Units set up production facility with old machineries, without paying attention to the quality.

Supply of goods is more in the market, than demand. This is also creating problems. Working in cash has not yet been established norm. That’s why we have to work on credit. The problem is that the payment market is tight.

Implication of GST
GST has given ease of working, but the problem is that GST is not being monitored and it is not being implemented strictly. If we are working with Bill, but the other person in the market is working without bill, then it will definitely make his goods cheaper. How can the GST payers stay in the market?

Raw Material availability
The problem in Kolkata is that the labor cost is marginally high here. Raw material is not easily available. We have to bring raw material from outside. Therefore, working style does not match with Yamunanagar.

We have Kadam and Lambu wood locally. Major problem is that the cultivation of Kadam and Lambu is not being done on a large scale. There is no Commercial plantation. As is agro-forestry in UP and Haryana, in this way wood is not being cultivated here. Even the government cannot provide vacant land, where Lambu and Kadam can be cultivated. Plantation is needed on a large scale here, but the problem is that the farmers here are not keen on agro-forestry.

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