SIVAKASI@100: WHY IT'S TIME FOR A PIVOT

In India's fireworks capital, companies are talking of R&D, automation and diversification

- N Madhavan

At first sight, it doesn't resemble a factory at all. In fact, everything about Ayyan Fireworks Factory Pvt Ltd's unit at Sengamalanachiapuram, in Sivakasi, India's fireworks capital, is an anti-thesis to a typical manufacturing facility. There is no one unitary structure, but 64 small working sheds spaced from each other and surrounded by neem trees.

Each shed is 120 sq. ft in size and has four doors to provide enough light and ventilation. Electricity is forbidden—a power leakage can cause combustion of the chemicals that hang in the air during the production process. Each shed can handle only 25kg of chemicals at any given time.

Four people are allowed in each shed and just two if the process involves mixing chemicals. There is no furniture. Workers sit on the floor to work.

Forget cell phones, even mechanised vehicles are banned. Raw materials and finished goods are moved using push carts. The neem trees act as the natural air-conditioners and cool the place, offering workers some respite from the blistering heat in the summer months. About 160 workers work in this unit and Ayyan Fireworks has 13 such units across Sivakasi.

It is a fortnight before Diwali and workers here are busy trying to meet last-minute orders. G. Abiruben, managing director of the company, is busy tackling incessant phone calls from his distributors seeking more supply.

“My production is sold out," he tells them patiently. Demand for fireworks has been good this year. Low-cost Chinese imports, which flooded the market and created havoc for many years, are absent this time around. The Indian government has reigned in such imports and this led to strong demand for local fireworks manufacturers.