Union Minister Piyush Goyal has urged India’s leather and footwear industry to target at least USD 15 billion in exports over the next five to six years, compared with the current USD 4-4.5 billion. He said the sector should aim for three-fold export growth by using new Free Trade Agreements (FTAs), expanding into new markets, and improving quality, design, branding, sustainability and scale.
Speaking at the Council for Leather Exports National Export Excellence Awards 2024-25 in New Delhi, Goyal said India’s FTAs are opening access to 38 developed countries. He announced that the UK FTA will come into force on 15 July, while the legal scrub of the EU FTA is expected to be completed within 15-20 days.
The minister said 77% of India’s leather exports currently go to just 15 countries and called for wider market diversification. He noted that India already has FTAs with the 10 ASEAN countries, Japan and South Korea, taking market access to 50 countries, while negotiations with Canada, the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), Mexico, Brazil and other partners could expand this further.
Goyal said the leather sector, which currently employs more than 40 lakh people, has the potential to create 1 crore jobs as it grows. He also encouraged the industry to strengthen leather development centres, improve worker training, and collaborate with the National Institute of Design (NID), Indian Institute of Packaging, Quality Council of India (QCI) and Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS).
The minister also asked the industry to focus on better testing facilities, modern technology, robotics, artificial intelligence, renewable energy and sustainable manufacturing. He said exporters should strengthen global branding, improve product quality and standards, and make full use of government support under the Export Promotion Mission to expand India’s leather and footwear exports.
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