Jitendra Singh Offers Seed Funding To Potential Leather Goods Startups

Jitendra Singh, the Union Minister of State for Science and Technology, urged students to look for lucrative careers in the emerging leather start-up ecosystem and extended an offer of seed funding from the Technology Development Board, part of the Department of Science and Technology, to potential Start-ups and inventive business owners.

He stated that the Central Leather Research Institute (CSIR-CLRI), Kanpur, will be given instructions to regularly organise specific activities, such as surveys of the leather and related industries, practical demonstrations, trade counselling, vocational and customised training programmes, consultancy services, and student internships, in order to support leather start-ups and businesses.

India is the second-largest manufacturer of footwear, the second-largest exporter of leather apparel, the fifth-largest exporter of leather goods, and the third-largest exporter of saddlery and harness products, according to Mr Singh the market for leather goods would be worth $424 billion globally in 2022 and is projected to grow to USD 744 billion by 2030. He also noted that India must take advantage of the enormous potential in the global leather market.

Abhinandan Kumar, the scientist in charge, gave a presentation on the state of the Kanpur Leather Cluster and the activities of the CLRI Regional Centre Kanpur, showcasing various technologies available with CLRI for pollution abatement and value addition in leather making, which would aid the industry in achieving environmental compliances and aid in better unit value realisation.