Indian bicycle industry losing sheen?

Gurvinder Singh

Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, December 14

The district is home to country’s biggest bicycle industry, but stores selling popular foreign brands of bicycles are gradually gaining popularity.

Reason: The difference in quality and high labour cost in India. Though several new stores have come up in the city, most of these have bicycles of foreign brands on display. Brands such as Merida, Trek, Lapierre, Cannondale, Giant, Raleigh, Bianchi etc. have several advanced features as compared to Indian bicycles, including the ones manufactured in the district.

Karan Gandhi, from a newly-opened bike store in Model Town which has bikes of the US brand Giant and Scot on display, said: “The obvious reason for preferring foreign bicycles over Indian is the difference in quality. Indian bikes, in fact, don’t even come close to high-end foreign bikes. People these days want high-end features in bikes,” he said.

“You name a cycle part and foreign bicycles are better at it. Most of the Indian brands are still making steel-frame bikes, whereas high-end brands from abroad come with aluminum frames or carbon fibre frames,” said Anshul Goel from Bikes World, another store that was recently opened on Malhar Road. “Frames are just one part. Most of the material and parts used in these bikes are better than that made in India,” he said.

“The demand and sale of these bikes is growing by the day,” he said. “Leaving aside the temporary slump due to demonetisation, we are looking at growth in the sector,” he said.

KP Singh from Bombay Cycle House said: “Riders at the outset are not able to make out much difference, but once they ride for about six months, they can figure out the difference between quality bicycles, and here renowned brands come into play. These have less wear and tear, offer better riding comfort and give good service support.”

The trend of cycling is slowly catching up in the city and cycling enthusiasts are looking for high-end bicycles.

“It is unfortunate that when the demand for high-end bicycles has started to grow in the country and even in this city Indian bicycle industry is not benefitting from it and bringing out the needed manufacturing quality,” owner of a bicycle manufacturing firm said.

“One of the reasons why Indian cycle industry is lagging behind is lack of high-end manufacturing technology and high labour cost,” he said. “There have been attempts to make great quality, but the cost of manufacturing high-end bikes goes very high in India. And even the government has not provided any support in creating a manufacturing base for making international-quality bicycles,” he said.

In fact, a couple of firms here have started manufacturing bicycles abroad. Suneet Syal from Vinsun Enterprises said they were manufacturing bicycles by the name of Longhorn and Chase in China and importing these here. He said there were several factors which were a deterrent in making quality bicycles in India such as high labour cost and lack of manufacturing technology. “Manufacturing bicycles in China and importing these instead is more viable as of now,” he said.

What store owners say

"The obvious reason for preferring a foreign bicycle over Indian is the difference in quality. Indian bikes, in fact, don't even come close to high-end foreign bikes. People these days want high-end features in bikes. " — Karan Gandhi, from a newly-opened bike store in Model Town

"You name a cycle part and foreign bicycles are better at it. Most of the Indian brands are still making steel-frame bikes, whereas high-end brands from abroad come with aluminum frames or carbon fibre frames. Frames are just one part. Most of the material and parts used in these bikes is better than those made in India. "— Anshul Goel, from Bikes World, a store that was recently opened on Malhar Road

"Riders at the outset are not able to make out much difference, but once they ride for about six months, they can figure out the difference between quality bicycles, and here renowned brands come into play. These have less wear and tear, offer better riding comfort and give good service support. " — KP Singh, from Bombay Cycle House