After a delegation visited China in August 2005, the small and medium units (SMEs), especially the sewing-machine manufacturing units are accepting and adopting Chinese technology rapidly, it is learnt.
As a collective project, these units have decided to stress on 'industrial models' of producing sewing machines.
SMEs plan to manufacture 30000 sewing machines of industrial model (5550) in the coming three years.
These machines will be launched in about 8–10 months, and 70 homes in Ludhiana will be taking on the work of assembling.
The cost of these machines will be set at Rs5000 each, which is expected to be Rs500 cheaper than those imported from South Korea.
Dalbir Singh Dhiman, Chairman, Punjab Sewing Machine Industries Association (Ludhiana), confirmed that they will be involved only in manufacturing sewing machine parts.
The assembling will be outsourced to workers, few of whom have worked for the industry for 5–6 years, and now operate only from their homes.
Singh also said that these machines would benefit the textile industry, mainly in stitching thick clothes like jeans.
The sewing machine industry in Ludhiana employs 25000 workers, directly and indirectly.
Only three percent of the production is exported.
In the last fiscal year, it produced around 1.8 million units, each costing around Rs900 on average.
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