For over 45 years, COSCO (India) Ltd has been the name on the sports equipment and fitness gear that Indians actually use - from school playgrounds to home gyms - making it one of the country's most organised players in a largely unorganised industry. The company was built by the Jain family, whose leadership has roughly 60 and 55 years of experience in the trade respectively, and it remains a promoter-driven, family-run public company listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange. Its recurring approach is a dual-engine model: it manufactures the core sports balls itself at its own plant while sourcing everything else - treadmills, boxing gear, carrom boards - from a network of international and domestic suppliers, all sold under the single "COSCO" brand through a nationwide dealer network.
Business segments
Three engines that work as one brand - domestic manufacturing of sports balls, a larger trading operation that sources fitness equipment and other goods from around the world, and a 730-dealer distribution network that delivers both to households, schools and gyms across India.
1. Traded Goods: the fitness supermarket sourced from the world
The company buys treadmills, exercise bikes, boxing equipment and hundreds of other items from international and domestic manufacturers, then sells them under the COSCO name - this is the larger half of the business.
- Sourced, not made - the company has tie-ups and arrangements with reputed international and domestic suppliers, sourcing products at competitive prices rather than building factories for every category.
- A constantly refreshed catalogue - new products are developed and sourced on a regular basis, so the range keeps expanding to match what gyms and households want next.
- Quality without the factory - even though these goods are bought in, they still conform to International Standards, which lets the company put its brand on them with confidence.
- Inventory discipline by the numbers - items that move slowly (less than 20% turnover) are valued at 40% of cost, and goods that do not move at all are written down to 5% of cost, so ageing stock does not quietly build up on the books.
2. Own Manufactured Products: the ball-making heart of the company
At its Gurugram plant, COSCO makes the inflatable balls and tennis balls that carry its brand - the one category it controls from raw material to finished product.
- Balls are the core - the company manufactures mainly sports balls, including inflatable sports balls and tennis balls, and this is its only in-house production segment.
- An in-house lab, not an assembly line - the company runs its own Research & Development unit that continuously re-engineers formulas, develops safer materials, creates premium-range products, and benchmarks against competitors in both national and international markets.
- Built to international standards without imported technology - the products conform to International Standards, yet no technology has been imported in the three years through FY22, meaning the know-how is homegrown.
- Part of a century-old cluster - the broader Indian sports goods industry is nearly a hundred years old, labour-intensive, and dominated by small and tiny units, with the Jalandhar and Meerut clusters together producing about 75-80% of the country's total output.
3. The COSCO brand and distribution network: one name, 730 shopfronts
Every product - whether made in Gurugram or sourced overseas - reaches the customer through a single brand and a network of roughly 730 authorised dealers spread across India.
- One brand for everything - all products are marketed under the "COSCO" name, which the company describes as a leading brand in the domestic sports and fitness segment.
- 730 dealers and counting - the distribution network consists of branches, distributors, and approximately 730 authorised dealers as of FY25, a footprint that has stayed around 730-800 over several years.
- Households, schools and gyms - customers range from individuals and households buying for personal fitness to institutional buyers such as educational institutions, schools, gyms and sporting event organisers, with many multinational companies also running in-house gyms or sponsoring staff sports activities.
- An online front door too - the company set up an online portal for marketing its products during FY20, adding a direct digital channel alongside its physical dealer network.
- Fighting fakes - grey market operators produce duplicate COSCO products, so the company regularly changes packaging and designs to stay ahead of counterfeiters.
Exports
A small but wide-reaching international channel - COSCO ships to over 200 countries, though exports remain a very little share of overall revenue.
- Presence in over 200 countries - key markets include the United Kingdom, the United States, Australia, Germany, the UAE, the Netherlands, France, South Africa, Sweden and Canada.
- A broad basket of goods - exported items include inflatable balls and accessories, nets, general exercise equipment, boxing equipment, toys and games, protective equipment, cricket equipment, sportswear, carrom boards and hammocks.
- Stagnancy is the headwind - the company has noted stagnancy in exports as a challenge, even as the broader Indian sports goods industry exports to over 150 global markets and supplies inflatable balls to international brands like Mitre, Umbro and Wilson.
Group structure and partners
A family-run public company with a single brand, a lost overseas subsidiary, and a shrinking workforce of 362 permanent employees.
- The company is promoter-controlled, with six members of the Jain family holding key management positions including Managing Director & CEO, Managing Director, Whole-Time Director & CFO, and multiple Whole-Time Director roles.
- Its wholly-owned Sri Lankan subsidiary, Cosco Polymer Lanka (Private) Limited, was taken over by the Government of Sri Lanka under a revival act and has been ordered to be wound up; a compensation tribunal has allowed roughly LKR 480 lakhs, but the management does not expect any net realizable value from the investment.
- The company holds directorships and investments in other private companies - Cosco International Private Limited, DDN Polymers Pvt. Ltd., Navendu Investment Company Private Limited, and Radhaphool Fin-Investments Pvt. Ltd. - and has a related party transaction with Cosco Polymer Industries (P) Ltd..
- The permanent workforce stood at 362 as of March 2025, down from about 457 the year before and roughly 495 in FY22.