With the anti-beef activists beefing up their attacks on traders of beef and cow hides in Uttar Pradesh, ball manufacturers in the state are facing a tough time in making cricket balls affordable.

The lack of supply of cow hides in Uttar Pradesh has forced the ball manufacturers to import leather from United Kingdom, which has resulted in increased cost of production. "We have to import leather from the UK. This is expensive because it involves import duty and other taxes," a Meerut-based businessman was quoted as saying on Hindustan Times, explaining the issue. "Ultimately, the consumer is suffering. A ball sold at Rs 400 a year ago goes for Rs 800 now."

Since cow slaughtering is banned in Uttar Pradesh, most companies procure cow hides from states such as Kerala, West Bengal, Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Tripura and Sikkim, where cow slaughtering isn't prohibited. While bigger brands have opted to import leather, the smaller companies have had to resort to using buffalo hides - which are thicker - to make cricket balls.

Rakesh Mahajan, director of BD Mahajan & Sons Private Limited, also added, Buffalo skin is not suitable for alum tanning (the process of preparing the hide before making cricket balls). The hide has colour and waterproofing problems. It is also time consuming. If a man makes 10 balls with cow leather, he will make only six with buffalo hide."