The Leather industry in India accounts for around 12.9% of the world’s leather production of hides/skins and handles a robust annual production of about 3 bn sq. ft. of leather. The country accounts for 9% of the world’s footwear production. The industry is known for its consistency in high export earnings and it is among the top ten foreign exchange earners for the country.
India has an abundance of raw materials with access to 20% of world’s cattle and buffalo and 11% of the world’s goat and sheep population.
The Leather industry is an employment intensive industry providing job to more than 4 mn people, mostly from the weaker sections of the society. Women employment is predominant in Leather products industry with about 30% share. The Leather industry in India has one of the youngest workforces with 55% of the workforce below 35 years of age.
The Leather industry has the tendency to generate 250 jobs for every $ 0.2 mn investment.
For further details, please refer FDI Policy
Footwear exports
Leather garments exports
People employed
Finished leather exports
Second largest producer of footwear and leather garments in the world
Second largest exporter of leather garments in the world
Fifth largest exporter of leather goods & accessories in the world
Exports are segmented as:
$ 100 mn Brazilian firm Grupo Priority brings premium shoe brand to India. Grupo Priority has launched its flagship men’s shoe brand West Coast in India in a tie-up with the distribution arm of footwear retailer Metro Shoes.
Founder kids footwear brand Teddy Toes aims to make luxurious international designs easily available in India, and at affordable prices.
As per National Manufacturing Policy
Mega Leather Clusters (MLC) implementation by 2020
Exports projected at $ 9 bn by 2020
India is the second largest producer of footwear and leather garments in the world and accounts for 13% of the world's leather production of hides/skin. An overview of the sector can be accessed from the Achievement report on the link.
Indian Leather Development Programme:
1. One of the major activities under Indian Leather Development Programme is to provide placement linked skill development training to unemployed youth.
2. Provide employment through well planned training in leather and footwear industry.
3. For augmentation of institutional infrastructure, assistance has been provided for establishment of two new branches of Footwear design and development Institute (FDDI) at Banur (Punjab) and Ankleshwar ( Gujarat).
4. Approval has been given for setting-up Mega leather Cluster (MLC) at Nellore, Andhra Pradesh.
All existing units in leather and leather products, including tanneries, leather goods, saddlery, leather footwear and footwear components sector having cash profits for 2 years, undertaking viable and bankable programmes on technology up-gradation on or after 29th August 2008 are eligible for assistance.
The scheme is aimed at enabling existing tanneries, footwear, footwear components, and leather products units to upgrade leading to productivity gains, right-sizing of capacity, cost cutting, design and development simultaneously encouraging entrepreneurs to diversify and set up new units in the areas.
The major production centers for leather and leather products in India are located in the states of :
1) Tamil Nadu – Chennai, Ambur, Ranipet, Vaniyambadi, Vellore, Pernambut, Trichy, Dindigul and Erode.
2) West Bengal – Kolkata.
3) Uttar Pradesh – Kanpur, Agra, Noida, Saharanpur; Maharashtra – Mumbai.
4) Punjab – Jallandhar.
5) Karnataka – Bangalore.
6) Andhra Pradesh – Hyderabad.
7) Haryana – Ambala, Gurgaon, Panchkula, Karnal and Faridabad.
8) Delhi.
9) Madhya Pradesh – Dewas.
10) Kerala – Calicut and Ernakulam / Cochin.
11) Rajasthan - Jaipur.
12) Jammu & Kashmir - Srinagar.
By: Invest India
By: Invest India
By: Invest India
By: Invest India
By: Sanchi Padia
By: Yashika Khurana
By: Preet Deep Singh
By: Anusha Agarwal
