Badminton development ideas

Ideas for badminton development in India: 

(1)   Allowing  75% FDI for manufacturing of sports equipment

(2)   Allowing 5% FII for foreign companies

(3)   Forming an association of Badminton academies & manufacturers

(4)   Setting up of Sports Technology Exchange Parks where domestic & international companies would be exchanging their technologies with one another

(5)   Starting a scheme where elite badminton players would be required to spend 1 month at their first badminton academy or in badminton academy of any tier 2 city. The players should be given Rs.70,000 incentive

(6)   Creating a national digital database for badminton academies

(7)   Starting national camps in collaboration with badminton powerhouses like Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, Dennmark , Thailand  etc. where players who have played less than 7 world tours or less than 2 world championships would be training with elite players of the above mentioned countries

(8)   Starting the Gym khana culture with a badminton twist where 5 to 6 academies of a particular district would be forming collective teams

(9)   BAI can give 50,000 Rs. Incentive for those academies willing to form cooperatives

(10) Using NSE listed companies for investing into PBL instead of using player management firms & glamour world

(11)Setting up a target of building 35 badminton stadiums in next 3 years in the 4 zones of India

(12) Starting a Ranji Trophy kind of a league where state teams would be competing against one another throughout the year. The players performance & consistency would come to the fore with this initiative. Per match can be a draw of 11 matches with 2 matches/category & 1 extra match for men’s singles

(13)Forming a national scouts team where a team of 200 scouts would be assigned the duty to find young emerging talent below age of 15 .

(14)Distributing the players into 2 categories : Elite & Pro . Elite players shall be those who are in top 50 of their respective categories.  They would be given different training by different set of coaches. The pro should consist of those players not  in the top 50 & those players graduating from national championships, juniors here they should be sent to international camps as suggested in point7 along with different training with a new set of coaches

(15)Appointing a different head coach for juniors. Special coaches for doubles
& singles differently can be appointed. If needed a new set of former foreign players can be set up

(16)Starting a team of 250 statisticians or statistics students or data science students where they would be analyzing the game & every match of top 100 foreign  (pairs/players per group) . They shall be responsible in identifying the weak link in  the opponents games using stats method. IF Indians are there in top 100 which many are then that number of extra players should be analyzed who are out of top 100 ( for example : N players are there in top 100 of X category then the 100+N players/pairs  should be analyzed who are out of top 100). This team shall also be responsible for analyzing any 1 game of any Indian player. 

Idea Article : International Solar Alliance

 Recently when  PM of Nepal,Mr. Sher singh Dauba visited India,1 of the most important announcement made was of the joining of Nepal in the International Solar Alliance. Before Nepal, more than 100 nations have so far joined the international solar alliance which was formed in 2015 by India & France jointly. The headquarters of ISA is located in Gurugram. The director of International Solar Alliance is Dr. Ajay Mathur. ISA is also a subsidary body of UNO. 

Introduction : Aim of the International solar alliance is expected to mobilise close to 5 trillion dollars for funding of solar projects. A lot of african countries like somalia are also part of the International solar alliance. International solar alliance is comprised of those countries who recieve sunlight for over 300 days & who fall between the Tropic of Cancer & Capricon. The logic behind keeping these nations as members recieve a good amount of sunlight throughout the year which is direct. International Solar Alliance is very neccessary from an energy security point of view given most of the countries that fall are LDC's.International Solar Alliance is also envisaging an aim to enhance international cooperation to facilitate clean energy research & technology.It also has an International Solar Assembly & is an unique initiative that seeks implementation of the resolutions as its prime aim, to read on more one can access the hyperlinks. It also has committments towards the Paris Climate summit.It also has launched various initiatives where countries can seek ideas from each other on a real time basis. 

Unique initiatives : It also has its ease of doing solar report which is launched yearly which covers various aspects like the potential for solar market in the nation based on parameters like governance,macroeconomy, infrastructure, financing ecosytem etc. 

International Solar Alliance has also launched Vishweshvaraya Award for maximizing solar energy, Kalpana Chawla award for scientists & Diwakar Award that are awarding different organizations & individuals for their contributions in popularizing solar energy. I personally feel that International Solar Alliance is an unique initiative

All the data regarding the introduction has been taken from : Dhristi IAS, Insight IAS & Byju's IAS. 

Need of idea: 

(1) Diversification of solar energy 

(2) Efficient administration 

(3) More cooperation in field of solar energy  

(4) Involving youth in the movement towards solar energy 

(5) Fiscal sustainability 

My ideas : 

(1) International solar alliance can  start a system of internships for providing opportuinities to youth in the solar sector 

(2) Trying to include cooperatives & banking firms as financing options apart from IMF, World Bank,Governments,private firms etc. 

(3)Some of the students studying in colleges of International Solar Alliance affiliated countries can be appointed as Youth  sherpas just like how we have in other multilateral organizations. 

(4) International Solar Alliance can conduct competitions every year where young persons are allowed to make working models of unique applications of solar energy can be presented in front of the International Solar Assembly. 

(5) Different areas where solar energy can be implemented can be researched upon.

(6) International Solar Alliance can also act as  an organization where countries negotiate with one another at bilateral & trilateral levels regarding different aspects of solar energy like lithium exploration. 

Benefits : 

(1) Expansion of solar energy into those areas which are unexplored 

(2) Youth joining the solar energy movement in big numbers 

(3) Rise to innovation 

(4) Greater opportunities in the solar energy sector

(5) Fiscal portfolio diversification

(6 ) India can become 1 of the largest producer of solar energy given the number of days direct sunshine is available.

Sports equipment manufacturing ecosystem : A vital component for Atmanirbhar Bharat

While looking at the news today in feed, most of the news was related to the Russia-Ukraine war, state elections in India, some on Covid but there was a news piece which grabbed my attention, the news was of Lakshya Sen getting a silver in All england championship. 

Since the Olympics & Paralympics held in Tokyo in August 2020 where hard working Indian athletes gave their best ever performances. In Olympics, India won 7 medals & 19 medals in Paralympics, each of these medals had their own unique achievements. Indian sports has been rejuvenated by the performances after 1.5 unassuming &quiet years(2020 + 6 months till July 2021) given the potential of our athletes it is but obvious that the sports equipment manufacturing companies are getting new consumers to look at. The medals & performances by our Indian contingent has been forecasted to have a very positive impact on the overall sports economy of India. 

Being a society, having sports as a cultural centerpiece right from epics to modern times, we as a nation should strive to become one of the biggest sports equipments manufacturing hub which can guide the world in terms of buisness models,sports governance and many other allied fields. 

Present status : At present, sports as a sector contributes only 0.1 percent to GDP. The entire global sports industry is estimated to be close to $480-620 billion, in many countries the sports industry contributes between 1-5% of the GDP of an economy.  According to the report of "Impact of Covid 19 on Revenues of world cricket & indian sports", it has been found out of the entire sports economy of India about 85% of the contribution is of cricket alone.Sports have a major contribution towards nation building & imagining the sports. 1 of the most important component of entire sport ecosystem in India is manufacturing of sport equipments. 

Sports equipment manufacturing : In India sports manufacturing units are mainly centered in WB,TN,UP(Meerut),Punjab.Sports equipments are mostly imported in India from different nations, in the year 2021, the value of imports in FY 2021 stood at US$9.5 million, the biggest exporters or the beneficiaries of exporting sports goods in India are China,Switerzland,Italy, France &43 other countries. The amount of imports over the last few years have decreased substantially from 30.74 USD million in 2009 to 9.53 million in 2019. 

This is a big improvement & many experts credit government policy of 100% FDI has helped India reduce its imports by a huge margin. 1 of the most visible beneficiary of this policy launched in 2000's has been the company Decathlon.

India's exports of sports equipments in the recent years have also increased, from 236.45 million$ in 2014 to 303.38 US$ in 2017. Top export destinations of Indian sports goods are : UK, France, Australia, USA, NZ, Germany, Ireland & South africa, with the highest exports being to uk & usa.Cricket, Badminton arguably the 2 most famous & loved games in India contribute to a total of 49% of the export quantity. Some of the reasons for the boosting of sports equipment exports is : formation of SGMEA which has helped a lot of manufacturers to find proper export markets & access to some of the best government schemes. 

Strengths of Indian manufacturing firms : 

(1) Diversified market for sports goods 

(2) Success of league system in sports like cricket, badminton is leading to a lot of popularity in turn pushing up demand for sports goods, when demand rises then using simple Keynesian economics the private consumption would rise the production capabilities in turn generating employment opportunities. 

The IS-LM curve will also shift towards the right. 

(3) Given the youth demographic of India & a rising aspirational middle class, focus on health issues sports manufacturing equipment demand  is going to rise like never before, therefore it becomes very important to boost the sports equipment manufacturing base & reduce the imports for sports goods in Olympic sports like Javelin throw,discus throw, swimming etc.

(4) Labour intensive industry, i.e. more employment opportunities which makes it have a positive outlook among general public. 

(5) Culturally India has been always connected to sport. 

(6) People's interest peaking in different sports in today's time. 

Government intervention: 

The focus of government of India since 2010's to improve sports infrastructure in India(like KIYG,KIUG, FDI for sports which have harnessed potential for the sports in positive direction)will also give big dividends to all sports manufacturing industries in the near future. The Government of India has also started the Major Dhyan Chand Sports University which will open up a lot of opportunities for those youth interested to make a career in sports which can be of sports psychologist or manager or sports admin or even a sportsperson.All such steps have boosted the sports equipment manufacturing sector in a huge way. Funding to educational institutions in 20 different areas has also boosted the sector. Public gyms have also allowed manufacturers to target the fitness equipments which is a new field for them. 

Digitalization of sports equipment sales has allowed the sports companies to target a wider range of consumers across globes.Use of technology & National talent search portal is also projected to boost the entire sports manufacturing sector in future. 

Challenges : 

(1) Regional imbalances, for example : North eastern India which has given India so many sportstars has very few manufacturing units. 

(2) Rising competition from foreign brands & companies who sell some sport goods at a cheaper price, this can be considered as a reason for India still importing sports goods in many Olympic sports. 

(3) Lack of a strong Indian brands in select few sports. In some sports like badminton,tennis most of the racquets preffered by athletes are of foreign brands given the wide range of options that they possess & the cutting edge technology that they employ, though many raw materials exported are from India only. In some sports, there is a need to bring in strong Indian brands to make them global branda. 

(4)Ever evolving nature of sport equipments which of course leads to a lot of production cost, rise in TVC & AVC leading to diminished profits, which sometimes leads to investors showing less confidence in turn effecting the aggregate demand. 

(5) Since sports is still considered a luxury item, it has high elasticity of demand (Own price elasticity would be somewhere greater than 1, cross price elasticity would also be both positive & negative, it depends upon the nature of good i.e. whether a substitute or a complement) which makes consumers price sensitive towards it.

(6) E-commerce facilities are limited for sports commodity goods however a few companies are striving to cut down the gap. 

(7) Technology exchange is still a problem in many industries. 

Constructive suggestions from my side:

(a) Government of India can set up Sports Technology Exchange Parks(STEP) where sports companies(including MSME) will exchange their technologies/ideas/suggestions for manufacturing & marketing with each other. 

(b) PLI scheme for sports equipment manufacturing can be included in the budget for 2023. 

(c) Setting up 10 mega sports equipment manufacturing parks can be  set up on the lines of  PM-MITRA scheme . These parks can be set up preferably in tier 2 & 3 cities in states of UP,Punjab, Haryana,Gujarat,TN,Manipur(2:2:1:1:2:2).These states have been selected by me given the population density & already a base for manufacturing is available. 

(d) A suggestion for the sports associations of India, is that they can start leagues but with an IPL revenue model. Sports associations can form high powered committes in consultation with the Government of India to look into how revenue streams can be diversified.. The sports associations can also use the social media platforms like YouTube to make a strong reach.

(e) Sports manufacturers should also take benefit of all MSME schemes like ECGLS. 

(f) Domestic competition like Toycathon can be extended for the sports equipment manufacturers in India . 

(g) Sports associations in India can collaborate with countries like Australia, Indonesia, Malayisa, Dennmark to improve sports equipment manufacturing in India.

(h) Targeted MoU's with some sports equipment manufacturing nations can be called on to invest in India.

(i) Reducing customs on exports of Indian sport equipment which are finished goods to the countries of Africa, Latin America as these countries have a huge demand from which Indian manufacturers can benefit. 

(j) Special focus by startups can also be given for sports equipment used by our paralympians who have made India proud time & again on different international podiums. 

 Benefits of the suggestion : 

(1) Technology exchange parks will lead to an exchange of ideas & technologies which is always good in long run. 

(2) Development of Indian brand 

(3) Rise in Domestic competition would make Indian companies as they would be more future ready for the challenges that they may face from different companies, in today's day & time, its important for companies to compete with one another. g9oj

(4)Increased revenues for sports associations which will push forward sports diplomacy & collaboration with many countries. 

(5) Improved margins would be obtained by Indian manufacturers when they export to African & Latin American countries.

(6) Rise in India's image as a soft & economic power. 

(7) Contribution to GDP will rise

(8) More people opening startups in sports related sector which will boost the morale of sportspersons.

(9) Production of sports equipment goods will also boost which will give further filip to Atmanirbhar Bharat & Make in India schemes. 

(10) Sports culture  improvement in India as access to sports goods is easier. 

(11) Nation building process from ground zero level will improve & further more people will have good health. 

To conclude, we can see that sports equipment manufacturing ecosystem has a huge potential in India and if its optimized fully by different governments,companies it would fulfill PM Modi's dream of Atmanirbhar Bharat & will also fulfill many sportpersons dream of developing India into a sport hub. 

Everyone should review, renew, rejuevenate their ideas from time to time to help India rise like a phoenix in all fields, as citizens it is also our duty to help India script a wonderful development story which will make each & every Indian proud of their motherland. 

India's medal winners: Mirabai Chanu, PV Sindhu, Neeraj Chopra & Ravi Dahiya(left to right).