Ludhiana, India – Until a few weeks ago, Gurmeet Singh Kular’s cycle parts factory in this northern India manufacturing hub was operating at less than 40 percent capacity. There were hardly any orders for the rims and mudguards that his family has been making since 1952 for the basic bicycles used by generations of Indians but whose sales are now fading away.
Relief came as some state governments put in orders for these bicycles, often handed out by authorities during election season, which is coming up in the next few months, or to schoolgirls from low-income families.
