In dire straits, Punjab sports industry faces exodus

Jalandhar, Aug 5: The once thriving Rs 1000 crore sports industry here, is in dire straits today, reeling under government apathy, tax burden, lack of raw material and Chinese goods onslaught.

Of the nearly 1000 sports goods manufacturing units here, about 25 per cent had already migrated to Meerut in Uttar Pradesh and Jammu in Jammu and Kashmir, Sports Forum president Sanjay Kohli told UNI here today.

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 government 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 relevent 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Sangh Convener Vijay Dhir also demanded that the C-forms, which have become redundant after introduction of VAT must be withdrawn.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 also given other benefits and rebate in taxes, the attracting investors away from Punjab, he pointed out.

The industry, already forcing stiff competition from imported sports goods, was being ignored by the government, Mr 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.

Mr 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 and products would become 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 equipments, Football, Basketball, Athletics and Gymnastic equipments. The government should lay emphasis in importing technology and know-how instead of finished goods, which has than 40 per cent of manufacturing units in Punjab,'' he said.

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

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

Moreover, sports should be included in education and health category and be made compulsory at school as well as college level.

Sports goods should be exempted from various taxes to make them affordable for the masses, he said.

Mr Dhir said,''Another major threat to the sports industry is the cheap Chinese sports products, a number of sports manufacturing units have already been shut down due to Chinese products.'' ''If government supports us, we can make it five times in five years from Rs 1000 crore to Rs 5000 crore, which will not only boost revenue but also generate employment,'' said Mr Kolhi.

UNI