Chinese furniture take sheen away from Kartarpur

The famous wooden furniture industry of Kartarpur, a small town in Jalandhar district, is now on the verge of closure due to several reasons, including import of Chinese furniture and increasing trend of wrought iron furniture.

The decades-old furniture business, which could be easily distinguished for its specialty, has lost its lucrative edge.

"People now prefer Chinese furniture made of new-wood as they have better shine due to the clean lamination. The plastic and wrought iron furniture have also damaged the business here," Swaroop Rai, whose furniture unit is facing dwindling sales, said.

Chinese furniture, mostly responsible for damaging the industry, is also cheaper than wooden furniture, Raju Bawa, a manufacturer and exporter of furniture, said. "But when it comes to durability, Chinese furniture have no stand at all," he said.

Those engaged in this business now face huge losses and mass unemployment. This has forced them to consider abandoning their trade and look for other employment opportunities.

Almost 60 per cent of Kartarpur's population is employed in various branches of wooden furniture manufacture. Over 450 units, mostly small- and medium-scale, engage in cutting, carving and polishing the wood into furniture.

Bawa said that until a few years ago, Kartarpur furniture industry had good market abroad, with exports to the UK, the USA and Europe touching record levels.

But the industry has always remained more or less of a cottage industry and could not even graduate to small scale industry, he added.

Some manufacturers also blame the government to some extent for the miserable plight of the industry. A "sizzling plant" set up in the city for drying wood with chemical treatment by using solar energy could not come up to the expectation of the industry as it took many days in the process.

Though the Kartarpur furniture industry is taking severe beating from Chinese furniture, it has not lost all of its patrons.

"Foreign customers still like the carving on the wood. They prefer sofas and double-beds with intricate designs. But Indian customers prefer Chinese furniture with simple and flat surfaces," said Mohinder Pal Singh, an owner of a furniture unit in the city, while describing the love of NRI's for traditional furniture.

Pawan Bansal, another beleaguered manufacturer, said: "With falling sales and production, decline in business, as well as the popularity of the industry, the new generation is not interested in learning the work. They are looking for other employment opportunities."

"Imposition of value-added tax of 12 percent is also preventing buyers from entering into the Kartarpur market," said Prem Bansal, another owner of a furniture manufacturing unit.

"Mushrooming of many manufacturing units in the adjoining villages has also impacted the industry adversely. Also, now every city has its own furniture market," he added.