Glitter to gloom on brass lanes as export orders dry up

In a dimly-lit room on a Moradabad brass lane, Pirzada Zafar Khan, 62, has spent long years making diyas that have brightened many Diwalis.

- HARSH KUMAR

Seven other workers jostle for space in that 10x13 sq ft room, their tools scattered on the floor. The orders are getting cancelled and the raw material is just lying around, says a worried Khan. "This was supposed to be our earning season, but the exporters aren't lifting the goods," he points out in his local dialect.

Indeed, it was supposed to be their busiest time of the year, ahead of festivals. But Md.

Noman Mansuri, president of the Handicraft Development Society, explains that the US tariff has impacted the business badly. "With export orders being cancelled, the crisis is hitting the artisans directly," he says.

After the 50 per cent tariff on Indian goods going into the US came into effect last month, the anxiety over future business and livelihood cannot be missed in the brass city.

Many craftsmen have already abandoned the work, according to Khan. "They've started pulling rickshaws or taken up daily wage labour. What else can they do?" Parvez Khan, 50, who has been in the metal business for decades, agrees. "Things are getting worse at a time when we should be earning the most. Indian markets don't have the capacity to absorb these products.