Salt production comes to an end in Thoothukudi

Salt production of this year in the district has come to an end with the start of intermittent drizzle heralding the onset of Northeast monsoon.

As the salt producers, having their salt pans on over 20,000 acres along the coastline of the district from Vembar in the North to Arumuganeri in the South, have harvested over 20 lakh tonnes of salt this year since mid-January against the average total production of 25 lakh tonnes. With the summer being unprecedentedly hot this year, the salt industry, employing around 30,000 workers, managed to produce 20 lakh tonnes of salt this year between March and September.

As the widespread intermittent drizzle drenching the district for the past 3 days has signalled the start of the Northeast monsoon within the next few days, salt production has come to an end. Hence, the salt produced in the salt pans has been stored in the godowns under tarpaulins.

After producing 18 lakh tonnes in 2025, 2 lakh more tonnes of salt has been harvested this year. However, only 4 lakh tonnes of salt has been sold so far while the remaining 16 lakh tonnes of salt is still in the godowns of salt pans, says A.R.A.S. Dhanapalan, former secretary of Thoothukudi District Small Salt Producers’ Association.

“Following the arrival of salt from Gujarat, another major salt producer, the salt sold last year for ₹2,500 per tonne was priced less than ₹1,500 per tonne in Thoothukudi this year. Hence, the producers have stocked 16 lakh tonne salt with the hope of getting good price in January 2027,” said Mr. Dhanapalan.