Gupta’s father started off in the late 1960s by supplying hair to exporters, then set up his own unit in Eluru in Andhra Pradesh a decade later. His company has since bagged export awards for 14 years.

Apart from barber cuttings and cut hair from temples( Tirupati temple alone sells a staggering Rs 20 crore worth annually), a large portion of it comes from households across India, collected by rag-pickers and garbage collectors, to Eluru.

Here it is sorted into lengths and colours, cleaned, washed and dried, and then shipped out in containers. Each month, 30-35 tonnes of hair is exported to 32 countries. China is the biggest buyer.