India aims to triple leather exports
India’s leather exports increased by 13% year-on-year to $3.8 billion in the 2010-11 fiscal year, surpassing the set target of $3.7 billion, according to the figures of the Council for Leather Exports (CLE).
During 2009-10, the country’s leather exports stood at $3.4 billion. Commerce Secretary Rahul Khullar said that India’s leather exports will be tripled, if not quadrupled in the next few years as the industry is gaining expertise and moving towards high-end products.
Among the categories which registered maximum growth in the last fiscal are finished leather which grew by 29.1%, leather footwear, which grew by 16% and leathergoods, which grew by about 8%. However, leather garments witnessed a negative growth of 6%.
“There are good numbers of orders from markets like America, Germany, UK, Italy and Russia,” said CLE executive director Ali Ahmed Khan, adding that the demand is yet to pick up in Greece, Portugal and Ireland due to the debt crisis.
Of the country’s total leather exports, Germany accounts for 14.3%, the UK 12.8%, Italy 11.5%, the US 8.7%, Hong Kong 8.1% and France 7.1%. The industry provides employment to 2.5 million people.
