Punjab sports industry faces tough times

The once thriving Rs 1,000 crore sports industry in Punjab is in dire straits today, thanks to the state government's apathy, heavy tax burden, lack of raw material and Chinese goods capturing the market.

Of the nearly 1,000 sports goods manufacturing units here, about 25 per cent have already migrated to Meerut and Jammu, Sports Forum President Sanjay Kohli said.

The industry, which produces about 2 lakh footballs per day among other products, providing direct employment to nearly 60,000 and indirect employment to about 1.5 lakh people, is today fighting hard for survival in Punjab due to unreasonable taxation and the state government's apathy, he said.

The necessity to submit C-forms is proving to be a major hassle for traders involved in inter-state trade who have to submit C-forms and other relevant declarations with the annual statement every year, he said.

Khel Udhyog Sangh Convener Vijay Dhir also demanded that the C-forms, which have become redundant after the introduction of VAT, must be withdrawn.

The Uttar Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir governments have exempted the sports industry from the hassles of obtaining C-forms and have also given other benefits and rebate in taxes, thus attracting investors away from Punjab, he pointed out.

The industry, facing stiff competition from imported sports goods, is being ignored by the government, Dhir said.We have to expand our products portfolio as out of 140 sports items we are only manufacturing 40 of them due to lack of labs, R&D centres and other training facilities," he said.

Kohli also demanded setting up of Ergonomics laboratory in Jalandhar so that customised sports products could be designed in accordance with the player and game requirements making products more competitive in the global market as well.

"There is only one Ergonomics laboratory in India and that is in Mumbai. If a product is sent there, the cost increases manifold," he said.

"The imports of finished sports goods is increasing every year. Almost 30-35 per cent of the manufacturing units are now surviving by trading imported sports goods, namely Badminton and Tennis racquet, shuttle corks, Boxing equipment, Football, Basketball, Athletics and Gymnastic equipment.

"The government should emphasise on importing technology and know-how instead of finished goods,'' he said.

The European Union had recently imposed 25 per cent anti-dumping duty on the finished Chinese sports goods and India should follow the suit, he said.

The non-availability of local raw material is another problem faced by the industry, he said, adding that the government should encourage organised plantation of the plants like mulberry used in hockey; mango used in manufacturing chess and carrom boards; English willow and Kashmir willow for cricket bats so that sports goods industry in the state could survive stiff domestic as well as global competition.

Dhir said, "Another major threat to the sports industry is the cheap Chinese sports products. A number of sports manufacturing units have shut down due to the Chinese products."

"If the government supports us, we can make it five times in five years from Rs 1,000 crore to Rs 5,000 crore, which will not only boost revenue but also generate employment," said Kolhi.