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Council for Leather Exports (CLE) Chairman Rajendra Kumar Jalan has said that the country's leather and footwear exports are expected to grow by over 12 per cent to $5.3 billion in the current financial year (FY25) on account of healthy demand in key global markets. He also said several global companies, including from the US, are showing keen interest in setting up manufacturing bases in India.

He said order books are good for the coming months and huge demand is coming from the US and UK. Indian exporters are exploring business opportunities in Africa as well. He informed that the industry is labour intensive, providing employment to about 42 lakh people. The sector has a total turnover of about $19 billion, which includes exports of $5 billion.

He further said the sector has the potential to reach a total turnover of $47 billion by 2030, which includes the domestic production of $25 billion and export turnover of $13.7 billion. He also requested the government that the Production-Linked Incentive Scheme (PLI) be extended to the sector as it will help achieve the $47 billion export target and create additional jobs for about 7-8 lakh people. Talking about Budget expectations, he said the council has urged the finance ministry to consider removing export duty on wet blue and crust from 20 per cent at present.