How THIS Entrepreneur Made Kashmiri Willow Bats Formidable Competitor Of English Willow | India Information
The age-old cricket bat trade within the Kashmir Valley has develop into a formidable competitor to the famend English willow bat, a feat made doable by means of the relentless efforts of Fawzul Kabir. Fawzul Kabir, a younger entrepreneur from the Kashmir Valley, based GR8 Sports activities Willow Bat Trade after incomes his MBA. The 32-year-old entrepreneur has labored tirelessly over the previous decade, incomes widespread recognition. His firm has efficiently expanded its attain to 6 international locations, together with Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Oman, Bahrain, and Scotland. At this time, GR8 Sports activities exports bats to a couple of dozen international locations, with many extra orders within the pipeline.
From beginning as a small-scale enterprise to changing into one of many main producers and suppliers of Kashmir willow bats, Fawzul Kabir’s startup now ranks amongst India’s prime ten startups. GR8 Sports activities bats, endorsed by worldwide cricket gamers, have left their mark on the worldwide stage. Since their debut, the bats have been prominently utilized in main tournaments just like the World Cup and T20 matches. In 2023 alone, groups from seven nations, together with Afghanistan, the UAE, Sri Lanka, Oman, the West Indies, and Bangladesh, used bats manufactured by Kabir’s manufacturing facility.
A decade in the past, roughly 300,000 bats had been produced yearly within the Kashmir Valley. At this time, that quantity has surged to three million bats per 12 months. With round 400 bat factories working within the valley, the trade employs greater than 100,000 folks.
Fawzul Kabir shared his imaginative and prescient, saying, “We initiated the thought of taking Kashmir willow to the worldwide cricket world, providing skilled cricketers a viable various. After eleven years of analysis and growth, we developed patented applied sciences to create a product able to performing on the worldwide degree. In the course of the 2022 World Cup in Australia, our Kashmir willow bat hit the match’s longest six. Over the previous 5 years, we’ve got exported greater than 700,000 bats.”
In recognition of its cultural and financial significance, the Authorities of India has categorized the ‘Kashmir Willow Cricket Bat’ as a part of the handicrafts trade. This step, taken by means of the Ministry of Textiles, goals to learn bat producers and artisans throughout the valley, fostering long-term progress for this conventional craft.
Together with Kashmir willow bats within the handicrafts checklist will allow the implementation of developmental schemes for the trade and enhance native artisans’ participation in skill-enhancement packages. This transfer is predicted to spice up exports, strengthen the ‘Make in India’ initiative, and spotlight Kashmir’s distinctive contribution to international cricket.
Kabir remarked, “We registered as a startup in 2023, and in the course of the India Startups anniversary this 12 months, our firm was acknowledged among the many prime ten out of 154,000 startups nationwide. It was the one startup from Kashmir and one of many best-performing international startups. This recognition has been an incredible supply of motivation for us. We have now additionally acquired 5 state awards, boosting our morale. In consequence, 23 new manufacturers have entered the trade, and younger school graduates are becoming a member of the workforce, changing into the driving drive behind the trade’s subsequent section of progress.”
As India celebrates the success of the Startup India initiative, GR8 Sports activities has emerged as a shining instance inside the nation’s flourishing startup ecosystem. With its outstanding achievements, the corporate is now acknowledged as one of many prime ten startups among the many 1.54 lakh startups acknowledged throughout all states and union territories.
