Shri Kamal Nath, India’s union minister of Commerce & Industry, has called upon the leather industry to increase its leather exports to $7 billion by the year 2010 from the present level of $ 2.3 billion, and to boost production in the leather sector to $14 billion within the next five years. Participating in an interactive meeting with the leather industry, organised by the Council for Leather Exports (CLE), Shri Kamal Nath said the effort should be to occupy at least five per cent of world trade in leather within the next five years, as this would generate over one million additional jobs in the country.

“We have identified the leather industry as a ‘Thrust Sector’ in view of significant export growth prospects and enormous employment potential, particularly in semi-urban and rural areas. The Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion has a special Integrated Leather Development Programme for the leather industry, in order to modernise and upgrade it,” the Minister said.

Value-added leather products today constitute nearly 80% of India’s leather exports, with footwear alone (both leather and non-leather) accounting for 36%, marking the transition of India from an exporter of raw hides and skins to a reliable source of value-added leather products. However, the minister also noted that global leather trade was valued at $100 billion, whereas India’s was unsatisfactory at a meagre two-and-a-half per cent.

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