Tanners have requested around Tk600 crore as bank credit to collect rawhides and skins of sacrificial animals during the upcoming Eid-ul-Azha, citing capital crunch.
They have also asked for ensuring sufficient security during disbursement of loans, sources said.
The Bangladesh Tanners Association (BTA) requested the Ministry of Commerce (MoC) in a letter to take necessary actions, so that the tanners could get bank loans and meet their capital requirement for purchasing rawhides, they added.
The association also urged the ministry to ensure adequate supply of required salt and to prevent artificial price hikes and storage of the item across the country, according to the BTA letter.
Currently, the BTA has some 800 members, including the country's tannery owners and exporters.
There are about 266 large and 1,600 middle-sized warehouses in the country for preservation of rawhides. Besides, there are some small-sized warehouses also.
The warehouse owners preserve their collected rawhides and skins through necessary salt for some three months after the Eid-ul-Azha.
They gradually supply the rawhides to the tanneries concerned.
The tanners have also sought required steps to ensure collection, preservation and transportation of rawhides and skins before 10:00pm by the corporations and local administrations.
The BTA has also requested the government to arrange necessary campaigns, so that the collected skins are duly given necessary salt, the letter added.
Meanwhile, an inter-ministerial meeting was held at the Commerce Ministry on Wednesday on management, monitoring, purchase and sales activities of rawhides and skins during the Eid-ul-Azha, their smooth transportation, necessary campaign, supply of required salt, etc.
Senior Secretary Tapan Kanti Ghosh presided over the meeting.
