Chennai, Jan 30 (PTI) The leather industry has set an "ambitious" export target of USD 8.25 billion in the next 2-3 years -- more than double the sales recorded last year.
The exports of leather and leather products have touched USD 3.40 billion in 2009-10. "We have set an ambitious target of reaching USD 8.25 billion in 2013-14", Council for Leather Exports (CLE) Chairman M Rafeeque Ahmed told reporters.
"It is an achievable target. What we need is to increase the present capacity. At least 60-70 per cent increase in the capacity in the next three years is needed", he said.
Comparing India's performance in the industry with China, Ahmed said India produced 5,000 to 7,000 pairs of leather shoes per day whereas China produced 30,000-50,000 pairs aday.
Indian Trade Promotion Organisation (ITPO) ExecutiveDirector Neeraj Kumar Gupta said the leather industry in the country was constrained by lack of infrastructure.
If the goal to more than double the export volume in the next 2-3 years was to be attained, Gupta said the industry would require an additional five lakh employees in the sector.
He added that states such as Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal were keen on setting up integrated clusters for the leather industry.
