COVID-19 impact: Ludhiana's cycle industry unable to meet demand due to labour shortage

Ludhiana (Punjab) [India], September 8 : The bicycle manufactures in Ludhiana are unable to meet the rising demand and recover the losses faced during the nationwide lockdown due to shortage of labour in the state.
"The cycle industry is working with 40 per cent to 50 per cent strength. The industry is booming, but due to shortage of labour, we are unable to meet the demand. Most of the labour in Punjab comes from Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal," said AS Bhogal of Bhogal Cycles.
He added that if the industry gets sufficient labour, it will overcome the losses suffered by it during the lockdown.
Onkar Singh Pahwa, the Chairman and Managing Director at Avon Cycles Ltd agreed that the demand for cycles is growing, but labour shortage is one of the reasons why the manufactures are unable to meet it.
"The demand for the fancy cycle has increased, as fitness enthusiasts are now preferring to cycle over going to gyms due to the scare of COVID-19 infection in crowded places. But, we are unable to meet the demand because of the shortage of labour force and delay in the import of special gears from foreign markets," he said.
The Federation of Industrial and Commercial Organization (FICO) urged the government to make arrangements to bring labourers back to the state.
"The cycle industry is struggling with labour shortage as they went back to their homes during the lockdown. The industry is currently working with 45 per cent labour force. We demand that the government makes arrangements to bring them back," said Gurmeet Singh Kular, President of FICO.