Silence on field numbs Rs 2,150-cr Jalandhar, Meerut sports goods industry

Jalandhar and Meerut occupy pole position as suppliers of the all-important gear for marquee events: The World Cups, the UEFA Champions League, the Indian Premier League (IPL), to name a few.

If governing bodies of football, cricket and hockey place orders worth billions of rupees, famous, fastidious customers like Virat Kohli and Mahendra Singh Dhoni also rely on the craftsmanship of workers in these industrial hubs to satisfy demands of the shape, weight and the sweet spot of their bats.

But like elsewhere, the Covid-19 lockdown followed by a continuing inertia in the sporting ecosystem have had a seismic effect on the two centres. The cessation of sporting events in the lockdown months led to a hiatus in the production cycle.

Ravinder Dheer, the convener of Punjab Khel Udyog Sangh Sangharsh Samiti, points out that sports goods manufacturing is a Rs 1,800-crore industry in Jalandhar, and it includes annual exports worth Rs 400 crore. “It came down to zero during the Covid-19 pandemic. Manufacturing was stalled; the shops were closed; the labour force went back home; and the consignments were stuck where they were,” he laments.

Meerut has a Rs 350-crore sports goods industry, including Rs 50 crore in annual export. It also saw ubiquitous losses during the pandemic.

Vikas Chatrath, the proprietor of kit manufacturer Cricket Topper, uses a cricketing term for the situation: “The sweet spot” is missing. “It all changed so quickly that we couldn't even comprehend it. In March, BCCI (Board of Control for Cricket in India) announced that the 2020 IPL would be postponed from March 29 to April 15. But on April16, it indefinitely suspended the tournament due to the pandemic.”

This had a spiralling effect. All cricket related manufacturing for the IPL stopped. BCCI banned Ranji Trophy matches. Meanwhile, other sporting events — including football, which brings huge revenue to Jalandhar’s sports industry through exports — were also suspended indefinitely. 

Ravinder Khurana, press secretary of Punjab Khel Udyog Sangh, says Australia, France, the US and other European nations import a lot of football ancillaries such as shoes and fan jerseys of the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi and Neymar. In India, Dhoni and Kohli fan jerseys are in perennial demand. All of that was put on hold. Thousands of stitched t-shirts have since been lying in the stores.

Outdoor sporting goods account for 75 per cent of the total manufacturing. But post-lockdown, there are orders only for indoor games such as carrom, chess, ludo and badminton. Since these are not spectator sports, they do not bring sufficient business.

Missing the skill 

Suraj Gupta, owner of Sunfly Sports in Jalandhar, points to another factor that led to big losses. A calendar year of a school or college is marked by sporting activity. To prepare for competitions, the young sportspersons buy kits such as cricket bats, leather balls, hockey sticks, shoes and racquets that make up for huge sales.

Schools, colleges, universities and state associations also place bulk orders for sporting equipment such as shot put, discus, javelin and hammer.

“We manufacture a lot of material in advance, anticipating an obvious demand. This time around, the equipment is gathering dust in godowns,” says Gupta.

The industry is also facing the problem of missing workers, who are skilled in specific tasks such as giving rough shape to the willow (cricket bat); carving the shoulders of the bat; and slicing the wood in a manner that when the bat hits the ball, it reaches 200 yards in four seconds. All of this requires years of experience. “You just cannot substitute these workers overnight,” says Pawan Lalhotra, owner of APG Sports in Jalandhar.

Farhan Alam, who owns Darilwal Sports, Meerut, agrees: “Let's take the example of a cricket ball. Four leather pieces, each the size of a quarter of an orange peel, are stitched at the middle with a slightly raised sewn seam, which is what makes the ball swing. The worker has to be precise while sewing. It takes five workers to ready a single ball. Not one can be absent.”

Alam, a small manufacturer-cum-trader who is still waiting for the Rs 750,000 his buyer owes him, rues, “I make cricket balls, but I am left with only one worker now.”

Jagan Singh of Shri Bharwati Sports, also in Meerut, got orders for equipment worth Rs 10 lakh. But his hopes of business getting back on track after the lockdown were short-lived. “In October, my sales dropped to Rs 100,000. Now, I have no money to pay workers or look after my family.”

Demand from sports academies too has dried up with parents hesitant to send their children to train. Chatrath cites the example of a cricket academy in Chandigarh that has 18 children turning up now, even though it ordinarily trains 600 budding cricketers. Amateur and professional tournaments are also not being held.

The silence on the fields is echoing in the once bustling sporting hubs of Jalandhar and Meerut.