International leather fair begins in Chennai

Tuesday, 01 February 2005, 20:30 IST
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CHENNAI: The 20th edition of the India International Leather Fair (IILF) got under way in this Tamil Nadu capital with a call to modernise the industry and promises to increase production. The four-day exposition has been arranged by the India Trade Promotion Organisation (ITPO) at the Chennai Trade Fair Centre in the outskirts of the city. Formally inaugurating India's largest leather fair Monday evening were union Shipping Minister T.R. Baalu and Minister of State for Commerce and Industry E.V.K.S. Elangovan. Both the ministers called for urgent modernisation of the Indian leather industry to enable the country to reach its target export growth of 12 percent by 2010. This year, 280 participants from 62 countries are attending the annual event, which also sees a 14-member team from Pakistan attending for the first time. Council of Leather Exports chairperson M. Rafeeque Ahmed told reporters that the Indian leather industry aimed to increase its annual production to $12 billion. Besides, "exports will be doubled, to reach $4 billion by 2010", he said. At the moment, Indian leather occupies only about 2.32 percent of the global trade. The Council for Leather Exports (CLE) export awards, presented Monday night, went to Superhouse Leather Ltd of Kanpur, which got the gold trophy for overall exports. New Delhi's Bharatiya International Ltd got the brand promotion award. Amongst the other awards, the footwear export prize went to Chennai's United India Shoes and the industrial leather export award to Zenith Exports Ltd of Kolkata. The Leather Research Industry Get Together (LERIG), also an annual event of the leather sector, led by the Central Leather Research Institute, had begun a few days before the fair on Jan 29. This year, the focus is on footwear manufacture and exports. The leather week ends with a fashion show featuring the country's top models.
Source: IANS
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