India’s government have announced measures which they hope will push economic growth, help attract investments and boost leather sector exports. The chairman of the Council for Leather Exports (CLE), P.R. Aqeel Ahmed, said the measures have come at just the right time, as the leather, leather products and footwear industries are currently facing challenges in the global market.
Exports from the sector have declined by 4.90% during April-June 2019, primarily due to a reduction in exports to Europe, which is the major market and accounts for about 53% of all Indian exports. He said the announcement to amend definition of MSMEs will further increase their concentration in the leather and footwear industry and will facilitate more companies to avail themselves of the government’s support measures.
"The move to clear pending GST refunds to MSME within 30 days, timely passing on rate-cuts by banks and additional credit expansion through Public Sector Banks, will immensely help in overcoming the liquidity problems," he added.
The measures will help in promoting production, exports and investments in the leather, leather products and footwear industry, he said. He also said that considering the opportunities presented by the US-China trade issues, the domestic industry is looking to register an overall export growth of 5% this financial year.
India’s leather and footwear industry is aiming at huge expansion through attracting investments and has planned several investment promotion events abroad this year.
