Impact of disturbances on cricket bat manufacturing industry in Kashmir valley

One of the most important wood based industry in Kashmir valley is Cricket bat industry. The origin of this industry is supposed to be from Sialkot Pakistan. The industry has a great potential of providing employment opportunities to thousands of people in the valley. The industry has an important role in earning foreign exchange, creating jobs and are expected to play an important role in future development of the economy. The industry manufactures cricket bats for both soft and leather balls under the brand names and these products have a market in Maharashtra, Gujarat, Punjab, Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal, Delhi, Rajasthan etc. There are at least 300 big and small manufacturing units of cricket bats in the valley. Each unit manufactures on an average 25000 bats per annum at a price ranging from Rs 100–2000 per bat. The annual turnover of the industry is Rs 10 crore. The industry exports nearly thousands of finished and semi finished cricket bats. The industry records of sound sales and it has been increasing with the passage of time. In the year 2003–04, total sales were Rs 55 lakh and in year 2008–2009 the total sales has elevated to about Rs 105 lakh approximately. Due to the political unrest from last two years (2009–2010) in the valley the sales has declined to Rs 80 lakh. The overall business has taken a nosedive due to unrest. Before protest each manufacturing unit manufactures on an average 200 bats daily but the output has fallen to 50 pieces. The main focus of the paper is to analyze the impact of disturbances on the production and sales of cricket bats in the valley.