About Us

About Us

Council For Leather Exports, India

Service to Leather & Leather Products Exporters since 1984

The Council for Leather Exports (CLE) is the single largest and Apex trade promotion orgnisation of the strong and rapidly growing Indian leather & leather products industry. CLE is committed towards the overall development of Indian leather sector and achieve higher export growth to enhance India’s share in global leather trade. CLE is functioning under the aegis of Ministry of Commerce & Industry, Govt. of India. It is the notified Export Promotion organization for entire leather & leather products industry.

Core Objectives Of CLE

Develop & strengthen the leather industry both industrial development as well as export growth.
Undertake concerted and aggressive export promotion and market development activities to extend global reach of Indian leather & leather products.
Assist importers anywhere in the world towards their sourcing needs of Indian leather & leather products.
Provide necessary assistance/guidance to overseas entrepreneurs in establishing business collaborations and strategic alliances with Indian companies.
Serve as a vital link between the Government and the leather industry, representing important policy measures, focusing on overall health and growth of the entire sector.

Activities And Services Of CLE

Disseminating market information, trends, policy matters and publishing information on commercial, technical and technological developments in the Indian leather industry

Facilitating export-import trade through redressal of various procedural hurdles by representing to authorities concerned.
Participating in major international leather trade fairs & specialized trade shows across the globe.
Organizing Buyer-Seller Meets and Mega Leather Shows, B2B meetings in potential markets etc.,
Promoting, facilitating & attracting joint ventures, technical collaborations & strategic alliances, FDIs etc into the Indian leather sector.
Inviting Resource persons / Experts to the trade Fairs, Seminars & Workshops held in India, for exchange of information, knowledge, ideas and strategies.
Mooting Delegations to overseas countries with a view to identify the sources for raw materials for augmenting availability of leather for production in India.
Perform facilitation and Coordination activities towards implementation of various leather sector infrastructure strengthening, Human Resource Development programmes of Government of India.
Facilitate in availing assistance under Integrated Development of Leather Sector (IDLS) for Modernization & Technology up gradation of production units

INDIAN LEATHER INDUSTRY – OVERVIEW, EXPORT PERFORMANCE & PROSPECTS

The Indian Leather, Leather Products and Footwear Industry holds a prominent place in the Indian economy. This sector is known for its consistency in high export earnings and it is among the top ten foreign exchange earners for the Country.

The export of footwear, leather and leather products from India was to the tune of US $ 5.07 billion during 2019-2020.

The industry is bestowed with an affluence of raw materials as India is endowed with 20% of world cattle & buffalo and 11% of world goat & sheep population. Added to this are the strengths of skilled manpower, innovative technology, increasing industry compliance to international environmental standards, and the dedicated support of the allied industries.

The leather industry is an employment intensive sector, providing job to about 4.42 million people, mostly from the weaker sections of the society. Women employment is predominant in leather products sector with about 30% share.

India is the second largest exporter of leather garments, third largest exporter of Saddlery & Harness and 4^th largest exporter of Leather Goods in the world.

The major production centers for footwear, leather and leather products in India are located in the States of Tamil Nadu - Chennai, Ambur, Ranipet, Vaniyambadi, Vellore, Pernambut, Trichy, Dindigul and Erode; West Bengal – Kolkata; Uttar Pradesh – Kanpur, Agra, Noida, Saharanpur; Maharashtra – Mumbai; Punjab – Jalandhar; Karnataka – Bengaluru; Telengana Hyderabad; Haryana - Ambala, Gurgaon, Panchkula, Karnal and Faridabad; Delhi; Madhya Pradesh – Dewas; Kerala – Kozhikode and Ernakulam / Cochin; Rajasthan; Jaipur; Jammu & Kashmir; Srinagar.

Strengths of Indian leather sector

Own raw material source – About 3 billion sq ft of leather produced annually

Some varieties of goat / calf / sheep skins command premium position

Strong and eco-sustainable tanning base

Modernized manufacturing units

Trained / skilled manpower at competitive wage levels

World-class institutional support for Design & Product Development, HRD and R & D.

Presence of support industries like leather chemicals and finishing auxiliaries

Presence in major markets – Long Europe experience

Strategic location in the Asian landmass

Emerging strengths

Design development initiatives by institutions and individuals

Continuous modernization and technology up-gradation

Economic size of manufacturing units

Constant human resource development programme to enhance productivity

Increasing use of quality components

Shorter prototype development time

Delivery compliance

Growing domestic market for footwear and leather articles

Highlights of Product Segments of Indian Leather and Footwear Industry

Tanning Sector – Annual availability of leathers in India is about 3 billion sq.ft. India accounts for 13% of world leather production of leathers. Indian leather trends/colors are continuously being selected at the MODEUROPE Congress.

Footwear Sector – India is Second largest footwear producer after China, with Annual Production of 2.58 billion pairs (2018). India is also the second largest consumer of footwear after China, with a consumption of 2.60 billion pairs.

Footwear (leather and non-leather) export accounts for about 46.61% share in Indian leather and footwear industry’s export (2019-20).

Leather Garments Sector – India is the second largest global exporter.

Accounts for 8.46% share of India’s total export from leather sector (2019-20).

Leather Goods & Accessories Sector including Saddlery & Harness – India is the fifth largest global exporter of Leather Goods & Accessories and third largest exporter of Sadldery and Harness items.

% SHARE OF LEATHER & LEATHER PRODUCTS FY 2019-20

Major Markets

The major markets for Indian Leather & Leather Products are USA with a share of 17.22%, Germany 11.98%, U.K 10.43%, Italy 6.33%, France 5.94%, Spain 5.01%, Netherlands 3.52%, U.A.E 3.35%, China 2.61%, Hong Kong 2.15%, Belgium 2.21% and Poland 2.11%.

The Top 12 countries together accounts for nearly 72.86% of India’s total leather & leather products export.

Export of Leather & Leather Products to major markets like USA, Spain etc have shown positive growth and markets like Germany, UK, Italy, France, Netherlands, Hong Kong, China etc have shown negative growth during Apr–Mar 2019-20.

European Union accounts for 54.71% of India’s total export of leather and leather products.

FUTURE OUTLOOK

The Government of India had identified the Leather & Footwear Sector as one of the 12 Focus Sectors where India can be a Global Supplier. With the implementation of various industrial developmental programmes as well as export promotional activities; and keeping in view the past performance, and industry’s inherent strengths of skilled manpower, innovative technology, increasing industry compliance to international environmental standards, and dedicated support of the allied industries, the Indian leather industry aims to augment the production, thereby enhance export, and resultantly create additional employment opportunities.