During the 10th Five Year Plan 400 crores was
made available for implementation of various schemes under "Indian Leather
Development Programme" which comprises of two programmes one was
Integrated Development of Leather Sector and second was Infrastructure
Strengthening of Leather Sector. Some schemes like support to Rural Artisans,
INTECHMART and saddler development were under implementation as continues
schemes, from the 9th Five Year Plan.
Government/ Industry: Views and Proposals
There were certain proposals for 11th Five Year
Plan like Stratagem to achieve US Dollar 7billion export takings by the end of
XI five year plan; to increase the equip of raw hides & skins so as to
reduce imports of raw hides & skins; resourcefully address environmental
concerns to make the leather units meet severe environmental norms;
establishing training facilities to cater to the demands of the industry which
was facing an acute shortage of skilled manpower.
From policy changes to new proposals there were still
certain bottle necks which were actually hindering the growth process of
leather industry. Some of them in the form of SWOT analysis were as follows:
Strength, Weakness, Opportunity and Threats
Indian Leather industry Strengths depended on the factors
like High growth; cheap manpower; Hefty raw material base; Continuous emphasis
on product development and Design up gradation. With plethora of opportunities
like rising potential in the domestic market; Use of information technology and
decision support software to help eliminate the length of the production cycle
for different products; Use of e-commerce in direct marketing etc.
However with such a good credentials still there were
certain weaknesses like Lack of warehousing support from the government;
International price fluctuation; Lack of strong presence in the global fashion
market; Unawareness of international standards by many companies which has also
transformed these into threats like major part of the industry is unorganized;
Limited scope for mobilizing funds through private placements and public issues
like many businesses were family-owned; Difficulty in obtaining bank loans
resulting in high cost of private borrowing; Stricter international standards;
Lack of communication facilities and skills.
What Government must do?
People engaged in this sector must have been thankful to
government for the various positive policy initiatives, however, its high time
to urge the government to look into the deeper problems which were still
blocking the potential & expected growth of the sector, as mentioned above
in the analysis, holding the sector backward.
The views are personal and have been written after
study of various reports and publications.
Source:
Press Releases the Hindu, Business Line, Reports published by Ministry of
Commerce and Industry.
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