Jalandhar puts up tough fight against Sialkot-made footballs

Rachna Khaira

Tribune News Service

Jalandhar, July 22

Craze for football among people in India and other countries is on the rise due to the recently concluded FIFA World Cup. Though India had no stakes in one of the most-watched tournaments across the world, its football exports grew by over 15 per cent to USD 10.33 million (about Rs 70.5 crore) in 2017-18 on account of the growing demand in markets of South America and Europe.

While speaking to The Tribune, Rajesh Kharbada, Managing Director, Nivea Sports, said though India is far behind Pakistan and China in terms of export, the Indian football market was able to meet 100 per cent demand for local consumption. “While Pakistan and China are among the top football exporters in the world, Pakistan has not developed even a single local brand of its own for the local consumption,” said Kharbanda.

He said the potential was much higher with the country’s craftsmen manufacturing footballs of global quality. Even other neighbouring countries such as Sri Lanka, Bhutan and Burma too are importing footballs from India.

Why is India still behind Pakistan and China in Football exports? “Due to currency difference between India and Pakistan, Sialkot-made footballs despite being of superior quality was sold much cheaper as compared to India. Also, the labour cost is almost half as compared to India. While the stitching cost of a hand-stitched football cost Rs 85 here in India, it cost between Rs 40 to 45 in Sialkot, Pakistan,” said Gaurav Mahajan, Director, Jonex Sports.

The sports goods industry was founded in 1883 at Sialkot and sports equipment became the first Indian industrial product to be exported in 1885. After the independence, a portion of entrepreneurs and workers decided to shift from Sialkot to India.

Initially migrants settled in Batala in Punjab, which was nearer to Sialkot and close to the mountain where the wood needed for sports items could be grown. Subsequently, according to a resettlement plan of the Central Government, entrepreneurs and workers settled in Jalandhar.

While the Jalandhar industry is fast loosing the traditional skill of hand stitching the footballs due to the non-availability of traditional workers, Sialkot, due to the availability of cheap labour, has managed to keep the skill alive.

City, Meerut produce around 80% of footballs in country

The government has claimed that around 60 countries from across the globe imported India-made footballs in the 2017-18 financial year. It also claimed that Jalandhar in Punjab and Meerut in Uttar Pradesh produce 75 to 80 per cent of the footballs in the country.