Governance
Indian Footwear and Leather Development Programme
- 17 Dec 2022
- 4 min read
For Prelims: Indian Footwear and Leather Development Programme Scheme
For Mains: Leather Industry, Government policies and interventions
Why in News?
Recently, the Union Government has approved the continuation of the Scheme ‘Indian Footwear and Leather Development Programme (IFLDP)’ till 31st March 2026 or till further review.
- IFLDP was approved as continuation of the erstwhile IFLADP (Indian Footwear Leather and Accessories Development Programme).
What is IFLDP Scheme?
- About:
- It is a Central Sector Scheme, which aims at development of infrastructure for the leather sector, address environmental concerns specific to the leather sector, facilitate additional investments, employment generation and increase in production.
- It was launched by Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry.
- Sub-Schemes:
- Sustainable Technology and Environmental Promotion (STEP)
- Integrated Development of Leather Sector (IDLS)
- Mega Leather Footwear and Accessories Cluster Development (MLFACD)
- Establishment of Institutional Facilities (EIF)
- Brand Promotion of Indian Brands in Footwear and Leather Sector
- Development of Design Studios in Footwear and Leather Sector
What is the Impact of erstwhile IFLADP?
- The programme has a direct benefit towards quality employment generation especially for women, skill development, decent work, making the industry more environment friendly and prompting a sustainable production system.
- The leather clusters located in different parts of the country have accrued benefit in terms of reduction of poverty, gender equality, sector specific skill/education, etc., thus touching many of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
- Other National Development Plans (NDPs) such as economic growth, generation of employment, good health and well-being, infrastructure development, affordable and clean energy and other environmental benefits are well-served by the IFLAD Programme.
What is the Current Status of India’s Leather Industry?
- The Leather industry in India accounts for around 13% of the world’s leather production of hides/skins and handles a robust annual production of about 3 bn sq. ft. of leather.
- The industry is known for its consistency in high export earnings and it is among the top 10 foreign exchange earners for the country.
- India has an abundance of raw materials with access to 20% of the world's cattle and buffalo and 11% of the world’s goat and sheep population.
- The Leather industry is an employment intensive industry providing jobs to more than 4 million people, mostly from the weaker sections of the society.
- Women employment is predominant in Leather products industry with about 30% share.
- The Leather industry in India has one of the youngest workforces with 55% of the workforce below 35 years of age.
- As of 2022, India is the second largest producer of footwear and leather garments, second largest exporter of leather garments and fifth largest exporter of leather goods & accessories in the world.
- The major production centres of leather and footwear products in India are located in Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Punjab, Haryana and Delhi.
- The major markets for Indian Leather & Footwear Products are USA, Germany, U.K, Italy, France, Spain, Netherlands, U.A.E, China, Hong Kong, Belgium, and Poland.
- USA is the largest importer of leather and leather products from India and accounted for 25.19% of the country’s total leather exports during April-August 2022.
