Revitalizing Indian Leather: Key Reforms in Focus at Parliamentary Meeting

On Thursday, the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Commerce is convening to deliberate on the Indian Leather Industry's current landscape and its future trajectory. The discussion, led by All India Trinamool Congress MP Dola Sen, is set for 2:30 pm at the Parliament House Annexe.

The agenda focuses on the subject 'Indian Leather Industry: current analysis and future prospects,' seeking insights from key industry stakeholders, including representatives from the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI), Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO), and the Council for Leather Exports (CLE). The voices of regional players from the Leather Clusters of Kanpur and Chennai will also play a pivotal role.

In May, significant procedural reforms were announced by the Ministry of Commerce & Industry through its Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT). The removal of export restrictions on value-added leather products, erstwhile mandated to specific ports, aims to ease compliance burdens and promote ease of doing business. Moreover, the obligatory testing and certification by the Central Leather Research Institute for various leather exports have been abolished, a move set to streamline processes, lessen transaction costs, and primarily benefit MSME exporters. These transformations are part of a broader strategy to enhance India's export competitiveness globally while adhering to the necessary quality and transparency standards.

(With inputs from agencies.)