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Chinese Incursion On Indian Flag Industry: Huge Demand for Tricolours ‘Made In China’

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While the country is going high on Make in India, the presence of national flags with ‘Made in China’ tag make a sorry statement of ground realities.

The Chinese version of the Tricolour has overwhelmed India-made ones these days in Delhi’s markets as buyers prefer them over the Indian ones.

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Indiatimes/Tarique Anwar

But why is this?
Indian manufacturers of national flags are losing out to Chinese imports because of at least 30-35 percent price differential.

Invasion of cheaper, durable and finely printed China-made Indian flags is making the survival difficult for small Indian manufacturers. And therefore, local manufacturers have also begun using the same material used in Indian flags made in China. But in the bid of copying, they fail to match the finishing.

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Indiatimes/Tarique Anwar

While locally made paper flags measuring 4x6 feet, 6x9 feet, 8x12 feet cost retailers Rs 130, Rs 150 and Rs 250 per hundred pieces respectively, the Chinese once cost them Rs 90, Rs 120 and Rs 220. In addition, because of the attractive and fine quality, the demands of the latter are also higher.

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Indiatimes/Tarique Anwar

Similarly while the original Tricolour of the Indian make is costly, made from hand spun khadi, cotton and silk, buyers can now opt for a cheaper cotton Chinese version. China-made cloth flags measuring 10x15 inch costs retailers Rs 15 per piece, 20x30 inch costs Rs 30 per piece and 24x36 inch costs Rs 45 per piece. On the other hand, the flags of same measurements made in India cost Rs 20, Rs 35 and Rs 50.

The total turnover of the flag market in the national capital stands somewhere at Rs 4-5 crore.

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Indiatimes/Tarique Anwar

“Demand of China-made Indian flags is higher because of its high quality and cheaper prices. As a result, Indian manufacturers are facing huge losses as only about quarter of their products find buyers,” Manoj Kumar Garg, a wholesale supplier of national flags at Delhi’s Sadar Bazaar, told Indiatimes.

Interestingly, during the anti-corruption movement led by Anna Hazare, there was a huge demand for the ‘Made in China’ Indian flags. But in their frenzy to raise slogans, he said, protesters didn't realise that the Tricolour they were waving with gusto were fake versions or a pale imitation of the original flag.

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Indiatimes/Tarique Anwar

According to the Indian Flag Code of India, our national emblem, the Ashok Chakra—a 24-spoke wheel—is present on the flag, representing the eternal wheel of law. “However, some protesters realized to their utter horror that the flags they were patriotically waving had only 18 spokes instead of 24,” said Garg, who is involved in the business for the past 15 years.

Some blamed the rise in price of raw materials like good quality paper, cloths, etc for slack in their business. “Chinese manufacturers use a polyester type smooth material to make the flag. Also, the flag is held up with the help of a plastic stick. Though we are giving a tough competition to Chinese manufacturers in terms of quality and printing but we fail to beat their prices because of the skyrocketing prices of materials required,” said Abdul Ghaffar Ansari who deals in all kind of flags for the past 45 years.

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Indiatimes/Tarique Anwar

He claimed that the khadi flags are not being sold in large quantities because of its limited supply. In schools, paper made flags are quite popular. Even here, Chinese manufacturers use hard and laminated papers with fine quality of printing if compared to Indian manufacturers.

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Indiatimes/Tarique Anwar

He said the flags manufactured by him and others are supplied to the market for public consumption.

It does not go to government establishment because the flags used hoisted there are made up of hand spun khadi. The only authorised unit in India to manufacture and supply national flags to government departments is the Karnataka Khadi and Gramodyoga Samyukta Sangh (Federation) (KKGSSF), which is located in Bengeri village in Dharwad district of northern Karnataka.

Made in China;

Cheaper and better quality than made in India

What has perplexed me is indian workers are so badly paid and mostly have no insurance....but they can't make affordable flags with good quality....

They have so many young labor entering indian job market every year, but very few of them can find a formal job....Talk about demographic dividend of india!

I have a solution for India.

Modi should hire millions of Indian engineer grads who cannot find jobs or working in fields not related to engineering. At least making India flags they can be patriotic.
 
I'm now more confused.....

These workers in flag factories earn less than 1/10 of their counterparts in China....
And they work longer hours.....They don't have social welfare, pension and insurance covered by their boss....They don't have paid leave and extra salary if they overwork....They don't have free food and free accommodation as can be seen in low-skill factories in China.

But still, their products are priced higher and criticised for low quality...
What's wrong??? If they can't even do well in low-skill industry, how can they compete with BYD, Haier, Huawei and Lenovo which are highly automated?

Even after working for 8 to 10 hours per day, their earnings do not cross Rs 600-700 a week. Most of the women are sold bread winner of the family.

population dividend ?

@Bussard Ramjet
 
It's not just Made in China flag story. The story BEGINS with Indian traders who import cheap flags from Yiwu and dump it in their home country. It is anyone's guess which trading community does this kind of business from China.

Guesses for those who want to play the game :-
Marwadis in China? or
Gujratis in China ? or
Punjabis in China ?

Chinese know how to earn money. China supplies most of the decorative items of hindu and christian festivals even though officially it is an atheist country.
Again and AGAIN, I will repeat this to no END. It is the INDIAN dalaals (trade agents) who sit in most competitive priced manufacturing centers in China (with usually a brother / cousin / chacha / mama) and ship loads of dumping material into India. It is not China's fault if Indian trade agents who work from kitchens wearing lungi and naada run cash transactions worth 1/2 million RMB .
 
So the made in China flag is 35% cheaper compared to made in India ones?

Easy, set up a "national flag tariff" or something that puts a 50% tax on imported Indian flags.
Problem solved.

It's not like the consumers are going to care. A flag is cheap anyways and you rarely buys it.
Unless there are more nationalists in India than I thought.
 
What has perplexed me is indian workers are so badly paid and mostly have no insurance....but they can't make affordable flags with good quality....

They have so many young labor entering indian job market every year, but very few of them can find a formal job....Talk about demographic dividend of india!


What's the average wage for workers in China..
 
This is what happens when you allow sweat shops business in our country to flood our domestic industry.

Sweat shops?

Assuming these women work 50 hours per week, their hourly pay is Rs 12-14, or about Rs 2400-2800 per month.

The official minimum monthly salary of Unskilled Tailoring Worker at West Bangle is Rs 6634 per month. So these women work excessively long hours, and their pay is less than half of official minimum wage without benefit. Talk about "Sweat Shops"! If this is not "sweat shop", what it is?

You do have very BIG NERVE calling Chinese factory "Sweat Shop", Mr. Elite Member?

By the way, is the "Official Minimum Wage" a joke or something in India?

http://www.paycheck.in/main/salary/...h-effect-from-july-1-2016-to-december-31-2016
 
I have a solution for India.

Modi should hire millions of Indian engineer grads who cannot find jobs or working in fields not related to engineering. At least making India flags they can be patriotic.

If this is done, then the 2030 objectives could be met.

population dividend ?

@Bussard Ramjet

Exactly.
 
Staggering low income...240-280RMB/month?!
Even Chinese workers on construction site are able to earn more than 250RMB in one day.
250RMB*30=7500RMB/month,Maybe some skilled worker can achieve this salary but not the average salary.
 
So the made in China flag is 35% cheaper compared to made in India ones?

Easy, set up a "national flag tariff" or something that puts a 50% tax on imported Indian flags.
Problem solved.

It's not like the consumers are going to care. A flag is cheap anyways and you rarely buys it.
Unless there are more nationalists in India than I thought.


Or devalue the rupee by 50%. also quick and easy.
Flag is not the only industrial item which India has no competitiveness.
 
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population dividend ?

@Bussard Ramjet

When did I ever not value skills and training, the quality part of human labor.

But the quantity also matters.

Finally, these advantages that China has won't remain forever. In textile manufacturing, Vietnam and Bangladesh are already catching up.
 
What's the average wage for workers in China..

Unskilled workers at Foxconn
Hope Foxconn can bring the same welfare and amenities to workers in India.
https://defence.pk/threads/challeng...-recruitment-advetisment.385243/#post-7369359
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I would suggest to send those Indian Keyboard Warriors to make Indian flags and earn Rs 600 per week, so they would know how majority of their countrymen live their life. This may cure their big-mouthing problem once and for all.
They inclusive growth only reaches less than 10% people, and most PDF Indians have no idea of what the general people's life is.....
Once I asked my Indian friend now working in China, how much and what kind of insurance and pension they give to their 3 servants back home in Chandigarh. He and his wife kept talking about how generous they were and how lazy their servants were.....Never give me an exact number.
 
Unskilled workers at Foxconn
Hope Foxconn can bring the same welfare and amenities to workers in India.
https://defence.pk/threads/challeng...-recruitment-advetisment.385243/#post-7369359
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They inclusive growth only reaches less than 10% people, and most PDF Indians have no idea of what the general people's life is.....
Once I asked my Indian friend now working in China, how much and what kind of insurance and pension they give to their 3 servants back home in Chandigarh. He and his wife kept talking about how generous they were and how lazy their servants were.....Never give me an exact number.
Well..that is bloody factory we called.:o:
 
250RMB*30=7500RMB/month,Maybe some skilled worker can achieve this salary but not the average salary.
Miss @Chinese Bamboo is correct. She mentioned daily salary >250yuan....
Easily....
That's why construction workers from the countryside work for several years, and then they can go back to build a house in the village and start their own small business. So many formal low-skilled workers have totally changed their life, some of them are even millionaire and billionaire.

Well..that is bloody factory we called.:o:
Foxconn has made a lot of improvement on worker's working/living environments and providing basic welfare and amenities in a bid to abide by China's new labor law. Chinese factories have really significantly improved in recent years. It's not perfect, but we are on the right track.

Another improvement is to provide free vocational training and a pathway to the management team.
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