JALANDHAR: Pakistan-2, India-0. That’s what the scorecard of a football match between India and Pakistan will look like if the sports-goods manufacturing clusters in Jalandhar in Indian Punjab and Sialkot in Pakistan Punjab were to meet head to head in FIFA 2014 in Brazil.For, not only has Pakistan earned the honour of manufacturing the ball that will be used in FIFA 2014 matches — the Brazuca — it has also outdone India in supplying footballs to European countries that place bulk orders for promotional purposes.All this by a country that graduated to machine-made footballs from hand-stitched only a few years ago. And then there is China, which has raced past India in manufacturing footballs.Despite receiving handsome orders from foreign countries, largely due to rising wages by China, the Jalandhar cluster has failed to capitalise on China’s loss. That’s in fact where Sialkot scored this time as makers Adidas scouted for a manufacturer who could pitch in as their main Chinese partner could not meet the demand made in short notice.Enter Forward Sports, and its CEO Khwaja Masood Akthar, who convinced Adidas and obtained sophisticated equipment. The Brazuca — weighing 437 gm and 69 cm in circumference — goes through a battery of tests on precision equipment brought from Germany. Akhtar told ET over the phone that it was a great honour for Pakistan and his company that Adidas chose it to manufacture the World Cup ball.Akhtar, however, refused to divulge the order received and the price of the ball. Industry experts said around five balls a day can be manufactured by hand-stitching while 50 balls can be produced using latest machines like the one that Forward Sports has installed.Cut to Jalandhar, there is still no shortage of scouts. From top global football brands Umbro and Mitre (former organiser of English Premier League) to Liverpool partner Xolo, the football industry in Jalandhar is flush with orders from France, UK, the US, Australia and the Netherlands to manufacture footballs. But the trouble is in executing them.Blame it on unavailability of cheap and skilled labour, lack of technology/infrastructure, high cost of raw material, moth-eaten government policies that despite having received handsome orders, the Indian football makers have failed to meet the demand. Yet, the business earned this World Cup as compared to 2010 World Cup has witnessed an increase of 20-25 per cent, industry owners in Jalandhar told ET.Nearly 20 lakh footballs were manufactured by the industry for the World Cup, securing a business of over Rs 30 crore. In a tie-up with Liverpool Football Club, Xolo (a mobile manufacturing company) had placed an order of five lakh footballs to promote the game, shared the manufacturer on condition of anonymity.Another manufacturer told ET that London-based Chelsea Football Club placed an order for manufacturing a ball for its club. Tilak Khinder, Export Director of Rattan Brothers, said that his company manufactured over 3 lakh balls in the World Cup season, of which 80,000 footballs were ordered by FIFA for promotion and other purposes.Apart from Forward Sports’ unique victory in Brazuca, the Sialkot cluster has also received massive orders from Adidas and Nike. As per available information, Pakistan has received an order to manufacture over six crore footballs in the World Cup season. India holds expertise in manufacturing bladder, which forms the heart of the football – the one that went into the controversial Jabulani was from here.Pakistan purchases the bladder, largely from NK Super Group, a Delhibased company which has a US patent for manufacturing highquality, high-retention bladders. It is one of the world’s largest bladder manufacturers and have been exporting to Pakistan.Polyurethane manufacturing unitsThe material used to manufacture professional balls is PU (polyurethane), which is imported by India from China and Korea as the country does not have any unit which can manufacture high quality PU at a reasonable cost. On the other hand, Pakistan has its own industries in Lahore and other parts of the country that manufacture high quality PU."We need units which can manufacture PU in our country. For that we need space or a special economic zone (SEZ) in the area. Punjab being a land-locked state, there aren’t big chunks of land where one can set up a big industry. Plus, we don’t have ports nearby. Unlike Sialkot which has an airport, we have to suffer delay in goods reaching us from Mumbai ports," rued Vikas Gupta of Soccer International.Gupta said he didn’t have the time to manufacture footballs for the World Cup as his company is too busy in meeting the demands of its international customers such as Umbro and Mitre. Going into the background, he said that it was in late 1970s when big companies like Adidas had come to India and Pakistan with the offer to manufacture footballs."Our (India) import restrictions were very stringent and the import duty was very high which put off the companies. Pakistan, on the other hand, welcomed the opportunity with both hands and brought down the import duty considerably. Since then, Pakistan’s industry has flourished and got technological support from big companies," he added. Aman Chopra of Shant Sports Industries told ET that the low dollar conversion rate in India is another key factor."Pakistan has been eating into our business because it offers better quality products at much cheaper price. Compared to around Rs 60 per dollar, the conversion rate in Pakistan is close to Rs 100," he said. He added that paucity of skilled labour in India is another factor due to which companies are unable to accept offers from international brands. "We need institutes to impart training to labour," Chopra said.