Indian Leather Industry is an export-centric Industry with huge potential for growth.
Leather industry in India is one of those industries which has huge potential for domestic consumption as well as export. India has a huge stockpile of raw material for this industry owing to its cattle. In fact, we have close to 20% of Cattle and 11% of goats in the world. Hence it is clear that there is no dearth of raw materials for this industry. India is also the second largest manufactures of leather shoes and 2nd largest exporter of leather garments in the world. In the coming 5 years, this industry is all set to grow exponentially.
It is a labor-intensive Industry.
There are certain trades in the world where the scope of automation is not much. Same is the case with the leather industry. It needs human labor to create the quality of products that are marketable. It is one of the most labor-intensive industries in the world. With every 1 crore of investment the Indian leather industry creates jobs for roughly 250 people. Currently, it employs close to 3 million people out of which 30% are women. Still, there is a shortage of skilled manpower in this sector. The industry needs some very skilled manpower to fuel its growth. The government of India has launched many initiatives and efforts to boost the skills for this sector.
Apart from NEEM Scheme, the government of India has put forward some very nice initiatives for this sector.
- Under Indian Leather Development Programme, primary skill development training has been imparted through the Footwear Design and Development Institute (FDDI).
- FY 2014-15: 1,38,608 trained and 82% placed
- During FY 2015-16: 1,44,000 trained and 80% placed
- During FY 2016-17: 1,17499 trained out of a target of 1,44,000 and 80% have been placed as of January 2017
- In order to enhance the institutional infrastructure, two new branches of Footwear Design and Development Institute (FDDI), with the assistance of INR 100 crore for each branch, have been built in Punjab (Banur) and Gujarat (Ankleshwar).
- Under National Skill Certification policy and monetary Reward Scheme of the National SkillDevelopment Corporation and Pradhan MantriKaushal Vikas Yojna (PMKVY), 60,359 youth have been trained for various job roles in leather and footwear industry since July 2015.
INR 765 Lakh has been sanctioned by Department of Commerce under Market Access Initiative scheme and INR 297.93 Lakh under Marketing Development Assistance scheme for marketing programmes and activities during FY 2016-17. Approval provided for setting up Mega Leather Clusters at Kota Mandal, Nellore district, Andhra Pradesh with a central government assistance of INR 125 crore. The project is expected to generate employment for 20,000 people and leverage an investment of at least INR 500 crore in the first phase itself.
*Source for bullet point information & end paragraph: makeinindia.com
