Integrated leather park for Chennai

    Chennai is to have an integrated leather park and a footwear design and development institute, according to Jairam Ramesh, Union Minister of State for Commerce and Power.



The proposed ventures will be set up under the Rs.1,200-crore leather development programme unveiled by the Centre for implementation during the 11th Plan period (2007-2012). The Centre issued an order, giving details of the programme, a few weeks ago.



A total of five leather parks and three footwear design and development institutes will be formed. Each component will cost Rs.300 crore. The other cities identified for the parks are, Kolkata, Kanpur, Agra and Nellore. Kolkata and Rohtak will have the institutes, said Mr. Ramesh, who was here to review the working of the Council for Leather Exports.



An amount of Rs.200 crore has been set apart for installation/upgradation of infrastructure for environment protection. ??Tamil Nadu is the only State which has prescribed zero discharge liquid norms for leather tanneries,?? Mr. Ramesh said. The amount would be utilised for implementing the norms in the State.



Explaining the importance of the leather development programme, he said the leather industry employed 2.5 million persons, 70 per cent of whom belonged to the Scheduled Castes and minorities. The programme had been devised, keeping in mind the social significance of the industry. During the previous Plan period, Rs.400 crore was earmarked. Noting that there had been a revival of the leather industry, he said the value of exports was $3.5 billion last year.



During 2008-2009, figure would touch $4 billion. Considering the equal mix of domestic sales and exports, the total size of the leather market was $8 billion.



Footwear exports up





Pointing to the rising share of footwear in the country??s export of leather products, he said earlier, it was one-third of the exports. Due to various measures taken by the government in the last few years, it reached 42 per cent this year. It was proposed to take the share of footwear export to 65 per cent by 2011-12.



At present, the European Union accounted for two-thirds of the exports and the United States, 10 per cent. Till now, the exports were characterised by value market.



This should become ??volume market.?? To achieve this, the share of exports to the US should go up.



Mr. Ramesh said two Taiwanese companies had invested $100 billion each in contract manufacturing units [of leather products] in Chennai.