Cheap imports from China are threatening the survival of Ludhiana’s bicycle industry in western Punjab.
Once one of the leading manufacturing hubs in India, the town’s most famous industry is becoming only an assembly point for bike imports smuggled in through Bangladesh and Sri Lanka from China.
This will have serious implications for India’s US$1.5 billion bicycle industry. India contributes a little over 10% of the world’s annual bicycle production.
Workshops began importing parts to keep costs down, then found it cheaper to import finished units. Industry leaders say more than 3,000 jobs have disappeared in the past 18 months.