Brass Products of Pareo: Its Product Domain and Range of Economic Returns

Present paper is designed to understand the genesis in its present form of traditional metal industry of Bihar namely that situated at Pareo located some 40 km west from the capital city of Patna on the banks of river Sone and adjacent to famous bridge across the river Sone. The paper tries to map out the brass products being manufactured in small units in a traditional setup passed on from generation to generation with history dating back to Ramayana age. Further, the paper analyses economics of production based on a sample of 50 production units in terms of their cost structure and the earnings derived therefrom. The nature of market in terms of its geographical dimension and seasonality has also been explored. An analytical perspective based on the market structure, demand, product, cost and reward tries to answer the present state and progress of the industry with some suggestions on changes required to bring better outcome for the industry in future with policy interventions.