Tirumala , June 12 :

With an accumulated stock of 300 tonne of fifth grade human hair, mostly offered by male devotees, in its godown, the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) has decided to reduce its price by half to ^40 per kilo and sell away the stock.

With the TTD finding few takers for the fifth grade (short) hair which is priced at ?8o per kilo, the trust board has decided to reduce its price.

"Majority of the short hair is donated by male devotees which has now become a concern for the administration.

Even as the TTD has a stock of three lakh kilos, there is not even a demand for 100 kilogram in the market," officials said.

In the recent past, the TTD proposed to auction the short hair (below five inch length), but no one came forward to float the tenders.

This forced the marketing department to reduce the price with the nod from the higher authorities. With the new price, tenders are likely to be issued by the end of this month, it is learnt.

Devotees irrespective of sex and age offer their hair to the Lord as their desire and vow.

In an average, 20,000 people offer hair every day.

During peak summer, the number touches 42,000 per day.

Previously, the TTD sold out all the stock of hair without segregating them.

Later, the TTD engaged experts for sorting out and grading of hair.

Since third quarter of 2010 grading has been made mandatory.

First grade hair is those with the length of 36 inches and above, while second grade is 16-35 inches, third is 10-15 inch, fourth grade is 5-9 inch and the fifth grade is short hair which is below five inch.

After introducing the grading system, a lakh kg of short hair was sold in 2010.

Since then, the TTD has not been able to sell even a kilo of short hair which is used to make twine and even for preparing amino acid.

With the twine industry purchasing the short hair from saloons at a much cheaper price, the demand to TTD came down drastically.

Even the units using short human hair for preparing amino acids were closed down due to pollution.

KK Guptha of Srinivasa Hair Industry, Eluru, who purchased short hair in 2010 told Express that the fifth grade hair is not in demand any more and the TTD is offering it at a higher price which is eight times higher than the market price.

Even, the long hair has become a concern for the purchasers.

"Nearly 27 per cent of the hair is becoming grey after washing, losing its quality for exports," said SV Prasad, general manager, Gayathri Hair Experts, Kowuru, who participate in the bidding regularly.

"Of the 27 per cent, maximum 10 per cent is sold with difficulty and the remaining becomes a waste," he said.