Kashmir bat industry in slump: Low demand hits stakeholders

The cricket bat manufacturers in this town are a worrying lot. Reason: The demand for their product, according to the manufacturers has sharply declined.

The manufacturers said they were facing a host of problems due mainly to government “indifference” towards this huge industry. “And now the sharp decline in the demand has worried us,” they added.

The bat makers said they were awaiting industrial cluster announced by the government sometime back that they expected would help them work in an organized manner and make some good earnings. “But this has remained confined only to the announcement. No follow up actions has been taken by the government to make the industrial cluster a reality,” they said.

There are scores of small and large bat making units between Awantipora and Bijbehara. “We all are virtually fighting a battle for survival as the demand for cricket bats from various parts of India has witnessed a sharp decrease,” they said.

Mukhtar Ahmad Dar, Joint Secretary of Cricket Bat Manufacturers’ Association said: “As if the problems were are facing were not enough that the central government declared operations of 42 inch band saw machines in the forest area as illegal.”

“We cannot work without having 42 inch band saw. If the ban is implemented on these band saws we will be ruined,” they said.

The manufacturers demanded that the state government must declare bat manufacturing unit as a cluster,” Dar said.

He said the government should kick start willow plantation drive so that there is enough raw-material available for the bat manufacturers. “The farmers prefer cultivating poplars since they grow in little time while the willow takes ten to fifteen years to grow.”

Gulzar Ahmad, a bat manufacturer said: “Post-floods the bat market has been unable to witness a turnaround. There are almost 10,000 bats lying in the godown of a manufacturer. They could sell because there is no demand,” Gulzar said.

Meanwhile, there is another problem that the manufacturers are facing: “Clefts or semi-processed bats are stolen in large numbers and sold at Amritsar or Meerut for processing. Two truckloads of such bats were recently recovered but no action was taken by the authorities against the culprits involved in their theft,” Gulzar said.

The bat manufacturers are also burdened by the increase in prices of raw materials such as rubber used for the grip, stickers and lamination along with polishing charges.

“In view the already diminishing demand, we cannot pass on the burden of the rising cost of the raw material to the consumers,” the manufacturers said.

A bat manufacturer at Awantipora said he used to sell 30,000- 40,000 bats every year but this year he has not even sold 15,000 bats.