India is a leading supplier of human hair for wigs, both for the fashion industry and people suffering from conditions such as alopecia or hair loss from chemotherapy.
Last year, India’s hair exports were worth $145 million, a huge jump from $15.28m in the previous year. China is a major export market.
Government restrictions on exports of human hair – partly to address smuggling – have severely affected small vendors of human hair as demand and rates paid for hair have fallen.