Indian Footwear and Leather Development Programme

Syllabus: General Studies Paper 2

Why in News?

• Recently, the Union Government has approved the continuation of the Scheme ‘Indian Footwear and Leather Development Programme (IFLDP)’till 31^st 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,, 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 around13% 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 exchangeearners 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.