Footwear Industry in India - An overview

India is the second largest global producer of footwear, second only to China. Often referred to as the sleeping giant, when it comes to footwear, India has an the capacity of producing over 1,800 million pairs of footwear. The majority of footwear produced in India are men’s leather shoes and leather uppers for both men and ladies. There are hundreds of fully mechanised, modern shoe making plants all over the country that undertake that task.

While leather shoes and leather uppers are produced in medium to large-scale units, sandals and chappals are manufactured in the household and cottage sector. However, with changing lifestyles and increasing affluence of other cultures and international fashion, domestic demand for footwear is projected to grow at a faster rate than has been seen. These has resulted in global brands such as Nike, Adidas, Puma, Reebok, Rockport, and many more to create shoes that are designed for the domestic market. This has led to a revolution of sorts in the Indian footwear industry as the industry has been made ready to adopt modern state-of-the-art technology to meet the growing demands of domestic as well as international requirements and standards.

Strength of India in the footwear sector is mainly due to the fact that the country has a reliable supply of resources in the form of raw hides and skins, quality finished leather, large installed capacities for production of finished leather and footwear. Moreover, India has a very large human capital with expertise and technology base, skilled manpower and relatively low cost labor, which aids in making the footwear industry flourish even more.

India has emerged in recent years as a relatively sophisticated low to medium

cost supplier to world markets; therefore, the leather industry in India has been targeted by the Government of India as an engine for economic growth. Progressively, the Government has prodded and legislated a reluctant industry to modernise.

With the rise in footwear industry in India, there is also a need to create a more systematic network of shoe repair shops in the country. Indian’s are known to recycle their footwear, rather than dumping them and getting new ones. Therefore, it is the need of the hour to set up qualified and well trained shoe repair professionals who can handle the large number of domestic demands for shoe repair.