| After reeling under a continuous problems and sticking to manufacturing traditional sports goods items during the past over two decades, the sports goods export units, primarily based at Jalandhar, have finally decided to diversify. |
| With globalisation and liberalisation of the Indian economy, the sports goods units faced stiff competition from China and have slowly started losing its supremacy in the production of traditional sports items. |
| Now, out of sheer compulsion, these units have started producing rugby balls, baseball bats, Australian footballs, lawn tennis rackets, and football accessories. |
| The global business in these items is estimated to be about Rs 1 million crore. While Pakistan has made a mark for itself in the football accessories industry, India is yet to begin its journey on this path. The football accessories include gloves, socks, shoes, T-shirts and shots. |
| "We have started manufacturing Australian footballs, baseball bats, and rugby balls during the first phase of diversification recently. The demand for baseball bats is on very high side in the United States and Canada, a market yet to be tapped by the Indian sports goods exporters. Even as there is no support on the research and development front from the state or the central government, we have conceived new techniques to manufacture these items to stay in the fray," reveals Ramesh Kohli, owner of Beat All Sports (BAS). |
| "The Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh, during a recent meeting has assured us of extending the state government's support in providing R&D facilities for manufacturing new items. But, every entrepreneur will have to survive on his own instead of waiting for the government help," he added. |
| "After facing acute shortage of mulberry and American willow, we have recently diversified to produce rugby balls and baseball bats. I have personally visited the US market and there is a huge demand for the Indian made sports goods, which needs to be tabbed," Sunil Malhotra, another exporter said. |
| The experts are of the opinion that another area, where Indian sports industry can make a place for it, is gymnasium equipments and machines. |
| "Infact, most of the gym equipments being used throughout the country, are imported. The sports units here should develop state of the art facilities to cater to the huge domestic and export market. The state as well as central government should set up R&D facilities in this part of the region to give an extra impetus to the already sagging industry," an expert said, adding that there is only one firm in Chandigarh, which has recently started manufacturing gym equipments. |
| The manufacturer-exporters here have also started producing lawn tennis rackets, which are in great demand in North America and European Union countries. |
| "We can not invest our hard earned money for producing new items as incase the experiment fails to click, we will be no where. The government should extend credit facilities along with subsidies to promote diversification in sports industry," says Mr Ravinder Dhir, president of Sports Forum, an NGO of s! ports goods manufacturers and traders. |
| Most of the exporters termed the apathy of the state government towards the problems of sports industry as the main reason for its failure to develop new sports items. |
| Though some sports goods exporters have adopted a relatively new path by introducing diversification to compete in this liberlised world, but will this new trend end up in cheers for them is a big question? |
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