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India's leather skills help offset Chinese competition
Monday, 20 October 2003, 19:30 IST
NEW DELHI: India's technical and designing skill with leather is helping it not only withstand Chinese competition, but also to grow and attract foreign investment, say industry experts.
"We are able to sustain growth mainly on account of our technical and designing skills in the production of new varieties of leather and products from shoes to garments and other articles," S. S. Kumar, chairman of Council for Leather Exports told IANS on the sidelines of the 11th Delhi International Leather Fair here.
The four-day exhibition, which concludes Thursday, has over 180 organisations and companies participating, including 20 from countries like Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Italy, South Korea, The Czech Republic, Germany, France, Hong Kong and China, the largest global exporter.
The second largest exporter, though way behind China, India is witnessing encouraging growth this year after a dip in 2002-03 to $1.83 billion from $1.94 billion in the previous year.
"This year, we hope to not only recover the dip of last year but improve on the 2001-02 performance to reach $2 billion. Our target is to double leather exports by 2006-07 through projection of Indian brand identity in key markets like the U.S and Europe," said Sanjay Leekha, chairman of the Council for Leather Exports for the northern region.
To achieve better growth, the council is waiting for government to push ahead with its planned 
4 billion investments on better infrastructure, the lack of which is holding back investors, said Kumar.
Despite having made good headway in creating a brand identity for quality Indian leather products, industry bigwigs say much more investment is required in the sector to take on Chinese competition.
"Our strength is the large resource base of the largest livestock, skilled manpower and the famous Indian entrepreneurship. On the negative side, we lack the infrastructure and support provided by the Chinese government," said Leekha.
With its ability to handle large volume orders, China is firmly entrenched in the lower end of the global market segment, which accounts for over fifty percent share. It is only in the mid and upper middle segment that India is making a name for quality products and has an edge over China.
From being a supplier of cut and sew products on exporters orders, "Indian leather industry is getting organised. Where once Indian raw stock was being exported, now West is sending us raw material for value addition and finished products as our skill is now being recognised and accepted," said Irshad Mirza, chairman and managing director of Mirza Tanners Ltd, which has five factories in Uttar Pradesh.
Recognised in Western markets through brand names like Red Tape, Alloy and Oaktrak, Mirza Tanners's with 2 billion annual exports is now making its globally acclaimed but high-priced products available in the county.
With Indian skills being recognised, many European companies are only for outsourcing products from India but also planning relocation of units, said the industry experts.
Several Italian and Spanish companies are reportedly studying the market for setting up a base in India for manufacturing finished products both for overseas and domestic markets.
"Through a Focus U.S programme and in the other key markets, we are targeting to create an Indian brand identity," said V.K. Shrivastava, managing director of Easter Leather Products, a former top leather council member like Mirza.
Leather garments is one area where India has been trying to make headway after witnessing setbacks in the last two years mainly due to Chinese competition. China currently has a 42 percent market share in leather garments segment.
"In the last two years, the leather garments industry has not been in good shape but now we are trying to recover lost ground by encouraging investments in better tanneries, designers, footwear production and market intelligence," said Moti Lal Sethi, president of Indian Leather Garments Association.
Source: IANS
4 billion investments on better infrastructure, the lack of which is holding back investors, said Kumar.
Despite having made good headway in creating a brand identity for quality Indian leather products, industry bigwigs say much more investment is required in the sector to take on Chinese competition.
"Our strength is the large resource base of the largest livestock, skilled manpower and the famous Indian entrepreneurship. On the negative side, we lack the infrastructure and support provided by the Chinese government," said Leekha.
With its ability to handle large volume orders, China is firmly entrenched in the lower end of the global market segment, which accounts for over fifty percent share. It is only in the mid and upper middle segment that India is making a name for quality products and has an edge over China.
From being a supplier of cut and sew products on exporters orders, "Indian leather industry is getting organised. Where once Indian raw stock was being exported, now West is sending us raw material for value addition and finished products as our skill is now being recognised and accepted," said Irshad Mirza, chairman and managing director of Mirza Tanners Ltd, which has five factories in Uttar Pradesh.
Recognised in Western markets through brand names like Red Tape, Alloy and Oaktrak, Mirza Tanners's with 2 billion annual exports is now making its globally acclaimed but high-priced products available in the county.
With Indian skills being recognised, many European companies are only for outsourcing products from India but also planning relocation of units, said the industry experts.
Several Italian and Spanish companies are reportedly studying the market for setting up a base in India for manufacturing finished products both for overseas and domestic markets.
"Through a Focus U.S programme and in the other key markets, we are targeting to create an Indian brand identity," said V.K. Shrivastava, managing director of Easter Leather Products, a former top leather council member like Mirza.
Leather garments is one area where India has been trying to make headway after witnessing setbacks in the last two years mainly due to Chinese competition. China currently has a 42 percent market share in leather garments segment.
"In the last two years, the leather garments industry has not been in good shape but now we are trying to recover lost ground by encouraging investments in better tanneries, designers, footwear production and market intelligence," said Moti Lal Sethi, president of Indian Leather Garments Association.
Source: IANS