Union Minister of Commerce & Industry Piyush Goyal has announced that India’s leather and footwear industry has the potential to create 1 crore jobs, up from the current 40 lakh. Speaking at the inauguration of the 8th India International Footwear Fair in Delhi, Goyal emphasized the industry’s capability to expand both domestically and internationally.
Goyal highlighted the implementation of Quality Control Orders (QCOs) to prevent substandard, low-cost leather product imports, thereby protecting the Indian footwear industry from unfair competition. He mentioned that these QCOs would encourage domestic manufacturers to focus on quality, helping India become a world-class manufacturer of footwear.
The Minister stated that retailers would have two years to sell off existing footwear stock following the implementation of the QCOs. He also noted that fashion footwear manufacturing up to 72,000 pairs would be exempt from QCOs.
Currently, India is the second-largest manufacturer and the ninth-largest exporter of footwear. Goyal expressed confidence that India could become the world’s largest manufacturer, targeting USD 50 billion in exports by 2030. He encouraged the industry to leverage Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) with ASEAN and European countries to make Indian brands global.
Goyal also reassured that micro and small units under MSME would remain exempt from QCOs.
