LIDCAP to pull out of leather production
The Leather Industries Corporation of Andhra Pradesh (LIDCAP) is to withdraw from the manufacturing and marketing of leather goods and become a service provider for the leather sector, according to newspaper reports. Company officials have presented the government with proposals for the reorientation in a bid to save the company from collapsing.
The move comes after a period when LIDCAP suffered through competition with private companies and lost government contracts. The company is currently unable to pay the salaries of its 150-strong workforce.
Vice-chairman and managing director Tenneti Krishna Prasad said that the company is restructuring to provide training programmes, finance for tanneries and artisans and promote the development of an industry infrastructure.
LIDCAP was established in October 1973 with the objective of promoting the leather industry in Andhra Pradesh, but problems had recently led the government to consider closing it down or privatising it.
