Boosting Footwear and Leather: A Transformative Budget Scheme

The CLE applauded the Budget announcement of a specialized product scheme for footwear and leather sectors aimed at enhancing productivity, competitiveness, and exports significantly. Benefits include job creation for 22 lakh people, mitigating export duties, and strengthening industrial components and machinery infrastructure.

The Indian government's recent Budget announcement to launch a dedicated product scheme for the footwear and leather sectors is seen as a significant step towards boosting productivity, competitiveness, and exports, as stated by the Council for Leather Exports (CLE) on Sunday.

According to CLE Chairman Rajendra Kumar Jalan, the scheme is designed to bolster focus areas including design capacity, component manufacturing, and machinery for the production of non-leather footwear. Expected outcomes include job creation for 22 lakh individuals, a turnover of Rs 4 lakh crore, and exports exceeding Rs 1.1 lakh crore.

Additionally, CLE Executive Director R Selvam highlighted that the removal of a 20% export duty on crust leather and a 10% import duty on wet blue leather is poised to strengthen the tanning industry and enhance exports of value-added products. Chennai's Farida Group Chairman Rafeeque Ahmed emphasized that this scheme addresses a critical need, with exports forecasted to reach USD 5.2 billion.

(With inputs from agencies.)