"India's leather and footwear sector aims to reach an export turnover of $13.7 billion by 2030, from around $5 billion in 2021-22," said Sanjay Leekha, Chairman of the Leather Export Council.
Sanjay Leekha added: "The whole world now looks up to India as an important and reliable supplier of value-added products. The leather and footwear sector intends to make the most of emerging trade opportunities and substantially increase its exports in the coming years. This year, exports are already showing a good pace of growth. Exports of leather, leather products and footwear recorded substantial growth this year, reaching $4.25 billion in the April-December 2022 period compared to $3.63 billion in the April-November 2021 period, registering a growth of 17.08 per cent. With a huge and growing global market, we see excellent growth opportunities in 2023 as well."
The series of events held in Chennai (listed below) as part of India Leather Week 2023 increased the growth potential of the industry. The 36th edition of the India International Leather Fair (IILF) was held at the Chennai Trade Centre from 1 to 3 February 2023 and saw the entire range of products related to the leather industry on display, from raw materials to finished products, including machinery, chemicals, components, etc. Shri Sanjay Leekha, CLE Chairman, added: "We thank the Government of India for implementing the Footwear and Leather Development Programme (IFLDP) for our industry. I am happy to inform that project proposals for higher investment amounts and a government grant have already been submitted through the National Single Window System (NSWS) of the IFLDP programme. Therefore, 93% of the expenditure utilisation has already been committed by the industry, which is a great achievement for the IFLDP programme".
Shri Sanjay Leekha added: "We expect further support measures for the industry in the upcoming Union Budget 2023-24 and also in the external trade policy, which will further catalyse our growth. As far as the Union Budget is concerned, we have called for a review of the IFLDP. As far as the Union Budget is concerned, we have asked for a review of our trade policy: import duty exemption for wet blue, crust and finished hides and skins, as well as the addition of new inputs under the Conventional Import Tariff Commodity Regime (IGCR). The consideration of these requests in the budget will help increase exports of value-added products from the count.
