Booming Global Market For Indian Leather Products, Fibre2fashion

Leather is one of the worldsmostly traded commodities. On average, global leather trade is estimated to bearound $60 billion for a year, and is predicted by the industry analysts togrow further. Global leather industry is estimated to be around $85 billionUSD. Developed countries such as US are the major consumers of leather items,while developing countries constitute a major share of manufacturing leatherproducts.

Indian Leather Industry:

China and Italy are the leading manufacturers and exporters of leather products in the world, with India occupying the third position. In India, leather industry is in a predominant positionwith substantial export revenue generation, and thereby providing economicalgrowth. The most premium leather products in the world are being made in India, and are much sought after in the global market.

The industry generates employmentopportunities for approximately 2.5 million people of which 30% of them arewomen. The Indian leather industry includes the sub-sectors of tanning andfinishing, footwear and its components, leather apparels, goods, andaccessories. Almost 60-65% of its production is done through the cottagesector. Indian leather sector is among the top 10 export revenue generators ofthe country. It uses mostly indigenous resources, and very less of the importedresources. Key production units lie in Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Delhi, Haryana, West Bengal, Andhra, and Karnataka. Major markets for Indian leatherproducts are US, UK, Italy, and Germany.

Growth Drivers:

Indian leather industry is oneamong the top 8 industries for export revenue generation in India, holding 10% of the global raw material, and 2% of the global trade. India enjoys competitive benefits such as availability of abundant raw material, cheap andskilled labor, supporting institutions for industrial developments, andsupportive domestic market. A recent survey states that, India has the largest livestock in the world. The country possesses the largest populationof buffaloes, goat, and sheep. India also has the worlds largest technicallytrained manpower in leather craft, which enables it to surpass its competitorsin the global market.

Indian Leather Footwear:

India is the biggest livestockproducer in the world, with the capacity of 1.8 billion square feet of leatherproduction annually. 13% of the global footwear production comprising of 16billion pairs are made in India. India is the worlds second largest footwearmanufacturer, making 2065 million pairs of various footwear categories. Itexports 115 million pairs, thus having 95% of its production to meet its owndomestic demand. Leather shoes and uppers are made in the large scale units,while chappals and sandals are made in the cottage sector. US, Germany, Italy, and UK are the major markets for Indian footwear. Many established brands in EU, andUS are being exported by Indian manufacturers.

Apart from footwear, other itemssuch as garments, handbags, bags, gloves, wallets, briefcases, upholstery,saddler items, belts, and folios are also made in India, and are beingexported; worldwide. The products made, meet the standards and requirements ofbulk buyers from Australia, EU, and US.

Indian leather items offer goodmarket potential for entrepreneurs to foray into the German, EU and otherworldwide markets. India is an attractive destination for technology andinvestments relevant for the footwear sector and is posed for growth anddiversification.

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