• Swapan Saha, a small trader in leather bags, doesn’t know where to go for raw materials if in the next two weeks his exporter fails to pay him for his consignment.

• Netai Mondal, a labourer working for Swapan, didn’t receive his pay for the past two weeks because the exporter didn’t pay his employer.

With the rupee gaining in strength against the US dollar, the leather goods industry, a source of livelihood for thousands in the city, is in a quandary.

Swapan or Netai are not aware of the volatile foreign exchange market, but are paying the price for it as leather product-manufacturing units are reeling under the pressure of rising rupee syndrome.

The exporters, who receive their payments in dollars, are awaiting the devaluation of the rupee to realise more income.

“We quote our prices in dollars. The payment is made after the delivery of consignment and prices once quoted cannot be changed. But with the decline in the dollar’s value, we will get less money if we now convert our dues to Indian currency. So, many exporters are waiting for the value of the dollar to improve,” said Ayub Khan, proprietor of Crescent Exports, on Free School Street.

“It is a competitive market and we work on low margins… Volume is the name of the game here. If the position of the dollar does not improve soon, the entire industry will suffer huge losses,” explained Ayub Khan, another leather goods manufacturer in Bright Street.

While the manufacturers are bothered about their margins, their employees and suppliers are clueless about how to make both ends meet.

“My total capital base is Rs 45,000. With this, I buy all my raw materials, including leather. I complete my order and deliver the goods to the exporter. I can procure raw materials and pay off my labourers only when the exporter makes his payment,” explained Swapan. He has a 100-sq-ft set-up in Kundu Lane, Belgachhia, where he employs seven labourers.

“If I don’t get my payment in the next two weeks, I’ll have to shut down my karkhana,” summed up Swapan.