Why innovation, not legacy, will decide India’s future as a global sports goods powerhouse

Ever wondered why enterprises in Jalandhar (Punjab) and Meerut (Uttar Pradesh) together account for 75-80% of India’s sports goods manufacturing? It’s an interesting tale rooted in India’s partition. Sialkot in Pakistan used to be a major sports equipment manufacturing hub where Sports Goods Manufacturing Industry in India was established on 13th April, 1883. Post 1947, when India was divided into two nations, many of Sialkot’s skilled Hindu craftsmen crossed the border with some settling in Jalandhar and others in Meerut. With skill sets available, the entrepreneurs then set up their industries in these two towns, paving the way for the present Indian Sports Goods Industry (ISGI) in 1948.

The sports goods industry in India has witnessed phenomenal growth over the past six decades and now occupies a place of prominence in the Indian economy in view of its massive potential for employment, growth and export. But, despite its century-old legacy in the field, sport equipment manufacturing is something that India hasn’t tapped its full potential -- both in domestic and international markets.

The Indian sports goods sector is valued at USD 4.88 billion (₹42,877 crore) in 2024 and is projected to grow to USD 6.6 billion (₹57,800 crore) by 2027 and ₹87,300 crore by 2034. The sector provides employment to over five lakh people, primarily in MSME clusters in Meerut, Jalandhar, Ludhiana and Delhi-NCR. India is the third largest sports goods manufacturer in Asia and the 21st largest exporter globally, with exports worth USD 523 million in 2023–24 to more than 90 countries. Major export destinations include the USA, UK, Australia, Germany and France, with opportunities expanding in South Africa, UAE, Canada and Sweden.

Notwithstanding the fact that India is the fastest growing market -- expected to grow at a CAGR of 9.1% from 2026 to 2033 -- its share globally isn’t much to shout home about.

ISGI in one of its reports, observes that outdated technology, lack of standards and quality of the products, shortage of some of the raw materials and skilled labour has hampered the industry that has the potential to generate unimaginable wealth and lakhs of jobs.

"Even years after its establishment, not many improvements have been seen in its operational and other business related activities," ISGI noted. "The cluster is afflicted with problems of outdated techniques, near absence of standards and quality of the products as well the processes; acute shortage of some of the raw materials, unavailability of skilled labor. The demand for sports goods is increasing in international as well as the domestic markets and this cluster holds the potential but lacks the technical know how. The cluster faces immediate threats from countries like China, Taiwan and closer home, Sialkot in Pakistan."

After years of slumber, there is a tangible effort, including the government, now to leverage India’s potential to become a sports goods manufacturing behemoth. The latest Union government budget has dedicated incentives for sports goods manufacturing, innovation, research and development. These measures are intended to help reduce dependence on imports, enable competitive pricing and encourage leading sports equipment enterprises to invest in greater innovation across their product range. However, an allocation of Rs 500 crore for innovation and manufacturing is just a drop in the ocean.

India’s sports equipment has been growing at a rapid speed and is only going to get bigger in a more rapid manner as rising health consciousness, growing disposable income, proliferation of E-commerce platforms, among others, contribute to the expansion of the market.

Former badminton international and renowned coach U Vimal Kumar is at pains to explain India’s lackadaisical approach when it comes to producing sports equipment.

“I think it is not that we don’t have the know-how, it is the question of the quality -- the manufacturing. Earlier we used to say the Chinese products were crap, it is substandard. But over the years now, if you look at it, the Chinese products are excellent.

“When I travel to China, I sometimes see the Chinese exclusive, their products, the places where they take you, they are more expensive sometimes than these Western products. So why can’t we do that? Especially when there is a huge market. Again, it’s the mindset. We produce inferior stuff. We can easily do a much better job; we can come out with better R&D and we can invest there but we have a long way to go,” he told DHoS.

Former India player Jatin Paranjape, who worked with Nike as its Head of Sports Marketing and Cricket Category Head, sees a massive role for India in sports goods.

“If you see the current players, like Amazon with their sports category, Flipkart, Decathlon, Puma, Skechers, I’m narrating these in order of sizes of business starting with Amazon,” he said. “All these e-commerce brands and the sports brands which I mentioned are all sourcing their equipment and when I say equipment, I also mean footwear. So, let’s clarify on that because footwear is the elephant in the room and all these brands are sourced from China, Vietnam, everywhere else but India. So, if we get the right innovation going at the Indian sports equipment manufacturing level, innovation and R&D going, I think the opportunity is absolutely enormous.”

Vimal points out to the shuttlecock business and how much India is losing out on due sub-standards qualities of the product.

“The feather market is controlled by China. See, the cork has to come from Portugal. Glue has to come from Berlin. And the manufacturing, of course, is all done in the Hong Kong and Chinese area because they have the better geese (for feather). So why can’t we do that: Encourage that in the Bengal area and Kerala there are a lot (of these birds).

“Shuttlecock has huge demand at every level -- amateur and professional. If you look at our academy itself, we are a small institution with 60, 80 group of players training. Our consumption per day is nearly 25 to 30 tubes of shuttlecocks. After subsidy, each shuttle tube we are getting at Rs 2000. So it is nearly Rs 50,000 a day! Imagine it across Bengaluru which has about 4000 to 5000 courts and expand it to India. So that is the sort of money involved for shuttlecock. A lot of people are playing badminton for leisure and there is a big scope.”

Government policies, Paranjape feels, play a great role in such ventures, especially in terms of creating a right environment for investment.

“I would say we are quite a bit behind in terms of innovation and R&D because we’ve just not had the right government sops thus far and when you don’t have government SOPs, your ability to raise capital is limited,” he reasons. “Once your ability to raise capital is limited, then your ability to invest in innovation and R&D becomes very, very pragmatic. Your approach to innovation becomes pragmatic and so I think now that the climate is right when the government is loosening first strings from a capital perspective as well and I feel that it would make a difference.

"Currently, I would say we are way behind China, not only in product development, which is like an OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) kind of piece but also way behind in product creation, which needs innovation and a good analogy would be the way outsourcing centers are now GCCs (Global Capability Centres). Why are they GCCs? Because they do a lot more value creation work rather than just administrative and coding stuff. So similarly, all the big Chinese manufacturers which manufacture like FENGTAY. Now they have gone up the value chain for people like Nike and are also creating products rather than just manufacturing them, helping co-create products along with the brands."

If India can marry its deep manufacturing legacy with world-class innovation, standards and ambition, not just Jalandhar and Meerut, but more parts of India could power it as a leader in the future of sports equipment.