The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : Exporters of leather products aim for moon

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Sep 23, 2005

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Exporters of leather products aim for moon

Special Correspondent

Plan to double export value; set growth target of 13.5 per cent

CHENNAI: Export of leather and leather products touched $2.38 billion in 2004-05, with China, Vietnam and some East Asian countries emerging as new markets for finished products, M. Rafeeque Ahmed, president, told the All India Skin and Hide Tanners and Merchants Association annual general body meeting here on Thursday.

Said Mr. Ahmed: "We have set ourselves a target of tripling production value to Rs. 60,000 crores and doubling export value to Rs. 23,000 crores [$ 5.8 billion] at an annual growth of 13.5 per cent, besides creating one million jobs more by 2010."

He said the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs had cleared a Rs. 290-crore scheme for integrated development of the sector, during the Tenth plan period. Formal orders would be issued soon.

The objective was to modernise manufacturing facilities, thereby enhancing productivity, production, quality and global competitiveness. "It is expected to spur a further investment of Rs. 1,200 crores in every major segment of the industry in the next three years."

He said the Centre had also approved a Rs. 110-crore infrastructure development and setting up of industrial parks. A component park and a footwear park would be set up in Chennai.

Pollution

On the problem of pollution, Mr. Ahmed said the Ambur-Vanniyambadi clusters had formed a Section 25 company — the Ambur Economic Development Organisation Ltd. (AEDOL) — and got a Rs. 67.33-crore project sanctioned by the Ministry of Commerce under the Integrated Infrastructure Development scheme. A similar project was under way in the Ranipet-Visharam-Pernambut cluster.

The objective was to achieve zero discharge, with water being recycled for tannery use through a reverse osmosis (RO) plant.

Mr. Ahmed said the association, through the Council for Leather Exports, had taken up with the Centre revision of norms for finished leather export.

The problem of sales tax on wattle extract was expected to be resolved with the introduction of VAT, but Tamil Nadu had not introduced it.

With the WTO regulations coming into effect from April 1, 2005, duty on exports would be progressively reduced to a floor rate prevailing in other countries, he explained.

At the AGM, Mr. Rafeeque Ahmed was re-elected president along with a team of office-bearers, which included Mohan M. Sreenivas as Secretary.

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