As per the Council for Leather Exports, the measures announced by the government to push economic growth will help attract investments and boost exports of India’s leather sector. Exports in the sector declined 4.90 per cent during April-June 2019, primarily due to reduction in exports to the major market Europe which accounted for about 53 per cent of exports. The announcement to amend definition of MSMEs will further increase their concentration in leather and footwear industry and will facilitate more companies to avail government support measures. The decision to clear pending goods and services tax refunds to micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) within 30 days, timely passing on rate-cuts by banks and additional credit expansion through Public Sector Banks, will help in overcoming the liquidity problems.

Considering the opportunities offered by the US-China trade conflict, the domestic leather industry is looking to register an overall export growth of 5 per cent this fiscal.