On the road to Pondicherry, in the southern state of Tamil Nadu, a large salt farm was visible from the road. There were no barriers or guards to stop me from hopping out of the car for a close up view. Mounds of salt waiting for collection, and then export, were piled in organized fields on the delta banks leading to Bay of Bengal. Like my chance run-in with beekeepers on the roads of Himachal Pradesh, the business of salt in India was an impromptu finding.

Since 1953, India has been self sufficient in the production of the country’s demand for salt. The per-capita consumption of salt in the country is estimated at about 12 kg, which includes edible as well as industrial salt. Sea salt constitutes about 70% of the total salt production in the country. Interestingly, several states have manufacturing facilities including Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Orissa, West Bengal Goa and Rajasthan. Only Gujarat, Tamil Nadu and Rajasthan produce a surplus thus allowing exports to salt deficit and non-salt producing states of India.

More than 10,000 salt works are scattered throughout the country providing jobs for 100,000 people. Most operations are small but combined, approximately 500,000 acres of land are devoted to the salt industry. From production centers, roughly 55% of edible salt is transported by rail across the country. The remaining percentage is moved by water and road to reach its final destinations. Surplus above the Indian demand is exported to Japan, Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, Nepal, Bhutan and even USA.

History of Salt in India

SALT SATYAGRAHA

The Salt Satyagraha was a campaign of non-violent protest against the British salt tax in colonial India which began with the Salt March to Dandi on March 12, 1930. It was the first act of organized opposition to British rule after Purna Swaraj, the declaration of independence by the Indian National Congress. Mahatma Gandhi led the Dandi march from his Sabarmati Ashram to Dandi, Gujarat to make salt, with growing numbers of Indians joining him along the way. When Gandhi broke the salt laws in Dandi at the conclusion of the march on April 6, 1930, it sparked large scale acts of civil disobedience against the British Raj salt laws by millions of Indians.

Gandhi was arrested on May 5, 1930, just days before his planned raid on the Dharasana Salt Works. The Dandi March and the ensuing Dharasana Satyagraha drew worldwide attention to the Indian independence movement through extensive newspaper and newsreel coverage. The satyagraha against the salt tax continued for almost a year, ending with Gandhi’s release from jail and negotiations with Viceroy Lord Irwin at the Second Round Table Conference. Over 80,000 Indians were jailed as a result of the Salt Satyagraha. The campaign had a significant effect on changing world and British attitudes toward Indian independence, and caused large numbers of Indians to actively join the fight for the first time, but failed to win major concessions from the British.

The Salt Satyagraha campaign was based upon Gandhi’s principles of non-violent protest called satyagraha, which he loosely translated as “truth-force.” In early 1930 the Indian National Congress chose satyagraha as their main tactic for winning Indian independence from British rule and appointed Gandhi to organize the campaign. Gandhi chose the 1882 British Salt Act as the first target of satyagraha. The Salt March to Dandi, and the beating of hundreds of non-violent protesters in Dharasana, demonstrated the effective use of civil disobedience as a technique for fighting social and political injustice. The satyagraha teachings of Gandhi and the March to Dandi had a significant influence on American civil rights activist Martin Luther King, Jr., and his fight for civil rights for blacks and other minority groups in the 1960s. Source- Salt Trade India