India To Export $825 bn Leather Goods by 2013-14.

CHENNAI: Leather exports from India could touch $8.25 billion by 2013-14, more than double the $ 3.40 billion it exported in 2009-10.

India's labour intensive leather industry, which provides employment to 2.5 million people, accounts for 2.62% of the global leather import trade of $137.13 billion.

"The target is ambitious, but achievable," Rafeeque Ahmed, chairman of Council for Leather Exports (CLE) said. Exports are growing at an annual rate of 5.43% in the past 5 years. From April 2010 till December, the growth rate has been 13.7% in dollar terms. China, a key competitor for Indian leather, has a 22% global share in leather trade. "Even a 10% shift of business from China to India could help achieve this target," he said.

In order to achieve this target, the CLE said that Indian manufacturers should invest in enhancing capacities. "We need to increase capacities by 60% to 70% of the existing capacities, if not double," Ahmed said. In the process, the industry would create five lakh more jobs.

A large Indian factory can make 5000 to 7000 pairs of shoes a day while in China a large factory makes 30000 to 50000 pieces a day. "There is demand and we need to invest in enhancing capacity," Ahmed said.

India has also benefited from the European Union's (EU) anti-dumping duty on Chinese leather manufacturers. Anti dumping duties are penalties imposed upon suspiciously low-priced imports, to increase their prices in the importing country. The EU imposed these restrictions on October 2006.

He was speaking at an event to announce India International Leather Fair (IILF) to be held in Chennai from Monday. This year, more than 9,100 square metres of space has been sold to 409 exhibitors.

Source : timesofindia.indiatimes.com