Govt plans special scheme for leather sector

The Dollar Business Bureau

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has announced that the Government plans to launch a scheme for the leather and footwear segment in order to boost growth and create of jobs in the sector.

This scheme for leather and footwear segments will be similar to the prevailing scheme of textiles, implemented in June, 2017.

“A special scheme for creating employment in the textiles sector has already been launched. A similar scheme will be implemented for the leather and footwear sector,” Jaitley said.

Department of Industrial policy and Promotion (DIPP) would send the plans to Expenditure Finance Committee shortly, for its approval.

The final approval will be given by the Union Cabinet in order to implement the scheme from April 1, 2017.

In June 2016, the government approved Rs.6000 crore for the apparel and textile sector which includes packages like favourable labour laws, upgradation of technology and other set of improvements. 

As per analysts, an investment of Rs.1 crore in the sector would help in generating 250 jobs. Presently, about 30 lakh people have direct employment in the sector.  

With competition from China in the leather manufacturing with regards to pricing, India  aims to raise the sectoral exports to $15 billion by 2020 from the current shipments of $7 billion.