Pulwama in Kashmir to become Pencil District of India

Pulwama has always been in news for being the terror hub of Kashmir, But soon the district would be known as the Pencil District of India. Pulwama is making slats for pencils and now 90 percent of the slat supplies will come from 17 Units set up in Pulwama District. Pulwama’s Pencil Slat business has over 100 crores turnover every year.

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All the Major companies of pencil making in the country procure the slats from Pulwama. And people associated with the business say if they get the raw material, then their business can be set up across the valley not only bringing revenue but also generating Job Opportunities. Manzoor Ahmad Illahi, who has been in the business since 2010, is the first person to start the business in Kashmir. He says “The wood for pencils used to come from China and Germany. But then I got into it and first made the blocks and later got the machines to make the slats. Poplar wood is used for it, and it gowns in abundance in Kashmir.’’ The government now wants to name not only this village but the whole district as pencil district.

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Until now, pencil slate was made in Pulwama, but now the government wants to set up units to make pencils from here. The government is also trying to increase the raw material requirements of Poplar wood from the valley. Mubashir Ahmad, an employee of the District Industry Corporation, says, "90 percent of slats supplies are sent from here. We are giving as much support to the producers and unit builders. We are also thinking of naming this district as Pencil District. In Total we have 17 units here. A lot of Initiatives are being started to make sure that everyone in Pulwama takes up this business. Pulwama is 40kms away from Srinagar and slowly is becoming the centre of Pencil making. With 17 Established Units and more in Making, the Government is trying hard to let people know about the progressive stories of Pulwama District.