Leather industry pins its hopes on government assistance
As an export-driven industry, the Indian leather sector has been hit hard by the strong and continued appreciation of the rupee, and is now pinning its hopes on the soon-to-be-announced central budget 2008/09 (April 2008 – March 2009), the Union Budget 2008/09, the Annual Supplement 2008/09 and the Foreign Trade Policy 2004-09 to offer some relief, having submitted a detailed proposal seeking duty concessions and procedural simplifications.
Prior to these latest proposals the Council for Leather Exports (CLE) had already submitted a detailed memorandum to the government outlining the impact of the rupee appreciation on leather exports and requesting various short-term and long-term measures to alleviate the effects. Short-term measures included increasing the Duty-Free Import Scheme from 3% to 5%, central excise exemption for footwear in order to make the domestic market more attractive, exemption from service tax on commission paid to overseas agents for services abroad and the implementation of mechanisms for effective refunds of state duties. In the long-term, CLE is seeking an interest decrease on loans, assistance for exporters to acquire brand names and establish their own brands, and help for individual exporters to establish in-house design studios to enable them to enhance product engineering and development.
