Leather exports may register a 10% increase by 2019 from $5.66 billion last fiscal, according to Minister of State for Commerce and Industry C.R. Chaudhary.
Speaking to the media, he also said the Centre was taking steps to boost the labour-intensive sector. He, however, denied that cow-related agitations and regulations impacted the sector and added that weak demand in major markets such as European Union had affected the industry.
He said all Footwear Design and Development Institutes (FDDIs) would become ‘Institutes of National Importance’ (INI) from Monday. “To empower the youth and to help them march alongside the Prime Minister’s Skill Development Mission and Make in India initiative, the Ministry of Commerce and Industry proposed the FDDI INI Bill to Parliament. FDDI, after becoming an INI, now has the autonomy to design its courses as per the requirement of the industry, and award its own degree to the students,” an official statement said.
The approval of the FDDI Act by Parliament in July had brought to an end the controversy with regard to the institute.
The UGC, in September, 2014, raised questions against the MoU between FDDI and Mewar University for grant of degree to FDDI students registered for the years 2012, 2013 and 2014 in the light of the AICTE’s non-recognition of its degree. In 2016, FDDI students protested demanding degrees instead of diplomas.
