Rift Labour, profitability suffers due to an onslaught of cheaper products from China.
DELHI: Considered as a vital cog in the Capitals' growth story West Delhi is suffering at the hands of cheap Chinese products. Businesses in this region - a hub for industrialists, traders and wholesalers - are reeling under the attack from the neighbouring nation, which has flooded Indian market with cheap products that affect Indian enterprises.
Businesses operating from the west Delhi - with industrial areas as well as wholesale market - have lost their competitiveness due to their inability to pull down prices as compared to Chinese products. As a result consumers shun made-in-India products to satisfy their price sensibilities.
Om Prakash, general secretary, Mayapuri Small Scale Industries Welfare Association says, "Industries in Mayapuri used to produce everything, starting from needle to aeroplane parts, but due to the increased imports from China and government's apathy around 50 percent of the industries, which were operating from here, have closed down and others have moved out. The Chinese are even making idols of Gods."
West Delhi has industrial areas such as Kirti Nagar, Mayapuri, Naraina, Udyog Nagar etc. These industrial areas have units involved in manufacturing of plastic and plastic-related products such as footwear, boxes, buckets among others, house hold electronic items and other decorative products.
The area also houses old and well-known wholesale markets such as Tank Road. It is one of the biggest wholesale markets for garments especially denim with around 3,000 shops and a turnover of worth `40 crore approximately. It employs around 20,000 to 25, 000 people directly and indirectly and caters to the needs of wholesalers and retailers throughout the country.
The plastic units in Kirti Nagar complain of extremely low-priced finished products, such as boxes, footwear and household items, which has made them uncompetitive.
"The government of India imposes anti-dumping duty on raw material of plastic processing units in order to 'protect' indigenous raw material manufacturers while there are no such duties levied on the import of finished goods made up of plastic. This inflates the price of the domestically manufactured products making them less competitive as compared to imported products," Navin Shah, president of All India Federation of Plastic Industries (AIFPI).
According to players in the plastic industry, price differential between the products manufactured domestically and finished goods imported ranges from 10-25 percent. Finished products are mostly imported from China. The other countries where are Taiwan, Korea and Thailand.
Talking about plastic manufacturing hub in west Delhi, Shah of AIFPI said, "Around 50 percent units in NCR are situated in west Delhi and south west Delhi. Narela, Mangolpuri, Mayapuri, Naraina, Kirti Nagar, Bawana and Najafgarh have numerous such industries." Most players operate on small, medium scale. Every small player employs around 50 unskilled labour providing employments to upto 70 to 80 people.
The impact is not limited to the manufacturing sector. The garment industry is equally affected. "According to the general perception stands the electronic industry in India suffers due to cheap import from China. But the same stands true for garments also," said Singh, the president of Tank Road garment market.
He added, "The garments imported from China are 30-40 percent cheaper than those available in India. This due to complex tax structure of our country. There are so many taxes levied on a product at various stages starting from manufacturing to trading that the end product becomes more expensive."
