Taiwanese kites flying high in India

In recent years, kites from the two sides of the Taiwan Strait have poured into the Indian market, posing a threat to kite makers in the capital city of the Indian state of Andrah Pradesh.

Taiwanese and Chinese kites were on display in large numbers on the opening day of the festival of Makar Sankrati in Hyderabad earlier this week.

“India has been flooded with Taiwanese and Chinese products ranging from cell phones to toys,” Indian businessman G. Roshan Lali said, adding that “now, even the skies are being filled with kites from the two sides of the Taiwan Strait.”

Kite shops in Hyderabad and Gujarat, another major center of the kite-making industry in India, have been doing brisk business in Taiwanese and Chinese kites in recent times.

The innovative designs of these kites, which come in shapes such as eagles, parrots, owls and parachutes, have attracted many young Indian kite enthusiasts, leaving the traditional diamond shaped local kites to sit on store shelves.

Although the prices of the Taiwanese and Chinese kites are many times more than those of their Indian counterparts, they have nonetheless been selling like hot cakes, to the chagrin of local kite makers.

And the competition from Taiwan and China is not limited to kites. The foreign version of the special thread used to fly kites has become more popular than the traditional thread used for Indian kites. The Taiwanese kite thread, made of plastic fibers that give added strength, has been so well-received that even Indian kite makers have begun using it.

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