Indian Leather Industry Positioned For Growth

The Indian leather industry, with an annual turnover of over $12 billion, has recorded a cumulative annual growth of about 3.09% in the last five years.

- Nikhil Raghavan

“India is the second largest producer of footwear and leather garments in the world,” said P. R. Aqeel Ahmed, the newly elected Chairman of the Council for Leather Exports (CLE). “We are also the second largest exporter of leather garments and third largest exporter of saddle and harness in the world.”

The major Indian production centres for leather and leather products are located in the states of Tamil Nadu – Chennai, Ambur, Ranipet, Vaniyambadi, Vellore, Pernambut, Trichy, Dindigul and Erode; West Bengal – Kolkata; Uttar Pradesh – Kanpur, Agra, Noida, Saharanpur; Maharashtra – Mumbai; Punjab – Jalandhar; Karnataka – Bangalore; Andhra Pradesh – Hyderabad; Haryana – Ambala, Gurgaon, Panchkula, Karnal and Faridabad; Delhi; Madhya Pradesh – Dewas; Kerala – Calicut and Ernakulam/Cochin ; Rajasthan; Jaipur; Jammu & Kashmir; Srinagar.

Aqeel Ahmed, who will be the Chairman of the CLE for the next two years, elaborated his plans to BE, “The leather industry is a high foreign exchange earning sector. Compared to our imports of certain raw materials and accessories, the conversion to exports is almost five times in value. In view of its immense potential for growth and employment generation capabilities, the Indian government has identified this sector as one of the focus sectors under the ‘Make in India’ initiative. The industry has achieved several milestones, namely, being a) the second largest producer of footwear, b) the second largest exporter of leather garments c) fifth largest exporter of leather goods and the third largest exporter of saddlery and harness items. The industry employs about 4.42 million people, 30% being women. India has also become the second largest consumer of footwear in the world next only to China.