Go ahead for mega leather clusters
22 March 2012The Indian government in New Delhi have approved Rs 600-crore ($510 million) mega leather product cluster development scheme for a five year plan (2012-2017), to make the Indian leather industry globally competitive.
‘The concept of mega leather clusters seeks to address the constraint of large infrastructure with integrated production chains in the country,’ the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion announced.
Considering the limitations of space in the existing clusters, it is anticipated that clusters would be set up in Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Rajasthan in view of the labour advantage and raw material availability, sources said.
Each cluster project will be implemented by a special purpose vehicle (SPV), wherein the government could provide financial assistance up to 70% of the project cost.
‘The SPV will have to bring in the land for the project at its own cost. Preference would be given to those proposals where states offer land free of cost or on nominal value,’ they said.
The clusters can host production units of footwear, footwear components, leather goods and leather garments.
The leather industry which is predominantly concentrated in the small-scale sector provides jobs to about 2.5 million people.
