Ludhiana industries oscillate between resilience and risk

From the crack of dawn, the wide, dusty lanes of Ludhiana's Focal Point industrial cluster stir to life.

- SHIVA RAJORA

Set up in the late 1980s, the cluster sits just off the Grand Trunk road, housing hundreds of export units whose businesses extend across the globe.

Among them is 25-year-old Kapil, a press operator at a forging unit that manufactures auto parts. His day begins as usual, but the mood is anything but steady. His company's biggest clients, based in the United States, have begun cancelling orders.

"I got to know that US President Donald Trump has imposed harsher tariffs on India. My unit exports parts to the US. Since we won't be supplying them, our work will suffer. It will be difficult for people like me to find work in the coming days," he says. "I hope it gets resolved soon."

On August 6, Washington announced a further 25 per cent tariff on imports from India, doubling the overall burden to 50 per cent. The move, effective from August 28, puts India at a stark disadvantage against competitors such as China in virtually every category of merchandise entering the US.

Ludhiana, Punjab's industrial heart, is at the centre of the storm. More than 300 firms here ship goods directly to the US — auto parts, engineering goods, hosiery, textiles, hand tools, and agricultural products. Industry leaders warn of losses upwards of ₹10,000 crore as buyers cancel orders stretching beyond September.