He is soldering the ballast to the burner. In most cases of CFL failure, it is the ballast that malfunctions. The unorganised sector uses poor quality ballasts and 95% of their products are sold without a warranty. But this does not hinder their claim for 30% of the market share

(By Arnab Pratim Dutta (Reporter, Down to Earth)
Photographs by Meeta Ahlawat)

Their means may be modest but they claim to offer a wide variety in products. There are about 50,000 odd CFL assemblers in the small-scale sector in India. “It is almost like a cottage industry”, says DC Agarwal the ex-president of the board of small-scale manufacturers of CFL. The CFL market ranges from the cheap, low quality lamps to the more expensive but durable, high quality lamps

(By Arnab Pratim Dutta (Reporter, Down to Earth)
Photographs by Meeta Ahlawat)

A handkerchief to cover the mouth when dealing with bulk orders. A chance breaking of burners is not uncommon. The burners contain mercury and the safety measures are inadequate. The possibility of safe disposal is bleak. Many workers know that handling a broken CFL is bad for them but argue that it is part of their job

(By Arnab Pratim Dutta (Reporter, Down to Earth)
Photographs by Meeta Ahlawat)

On the last leg, assembled CFLs are put to the final test. A worker checks to see if the lamp lights, when plugged to the electrical board. The cleared CFLs are then packed off to the CFL distributors and retailers. In response to the anti-dumping measures, the CFL supply chain passes through three main players-- the component importer and distributor, the assemblers and the CFL distributors and retailers. The component importers mainly import burners from China and Vietnam. The assemblers piece the CFL together and the distributors put them in the market

(By Arnab Pratim Dutta (Reporter, Down to Earth)
Photographs by Meeta Ahlawat)