Union Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal on Tuesday chaired a stakeholder consultation with representatives from the footwear and leather industry.

According to the minister, discussions focused on strengthening quality standards and enhancing India’s global competitiveness.

“Special emphasis was laid on upgrading testing infrastructure, promoting innovation and aligning with international benchmarks to make India a quality-conscious and globally trusted manufacturing hub,” Goyal said in a post on X social media platform.

India's leather and non-leather footwear exports have seen a significant rise of nearly 25 per cent in the 2024-25 financial year (FY25), reaching $5.7 billion.

The industry is expected to surpass the $6.5 billion mark in the current fiscal year (FY26), according to the Council for Leather Exports (CLE). The CLE, which represents footwear exporters, mentioned that demand from both developed and developing countries remains strong, contributing to the impressive growth.

The footwear industry is labour-intensive, providing employment to approximately 42 lakh people. With an overall turnover of 19 billion dollar, the sector includes $5 billion in exports.

On Monday, the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) issued a notification to remove key procedural restrictions applicable to the export of value-added leather products. This step is expected to reduce compliance burden and improve ease of doing business for exporters, according to the Ministry of Commerce,

Port restrictions have been withdrawn, allowing export of Finished Leather, Wet Blue Leather, and EI Tanned Leather from any port or Inland Container Depot (ICD).

Earlier, these exports were restricted to specific notified ports. The mandatory requirement for testing and certification by the Central Leather Research Institute (CLRI) for export of Finished Leather, Wet Blue Leather, Crust Leather, and EI Tanned Leather has also been dispensed with.

The reforms also support India’s efforts to enhance export competitiveness in the global leather value chain while maintaining transparency and quality standards under general customs provisions.