India’s leather and footwear industry has called for import duty exemptions on several key inputs—including synthetic leather, metal accessories, machinery, threads, moulds and specific chemicals—as escalating tensions in West Asia have driven up costs by as much as 60 per cent, according to an industry official.
The concerns have been formally raised with the commerce and industry ministry, with exporters also pushing for the early rollout of the proposed FLOAT (Footwear and Leather Oriented Transformation) scheme. The industry wants the scheme to cover the full value chain, including raw materials, machinery and other essential inputs.
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In addition, stakeholders have sought duty-free imports of crust and finished leather to strengthen domestic manufacturing capabilities. “The industry is facing a sharp increase in raw material and input costs—rising by 40-60 per cent—due to the West Asia crisis,” the official said. “In view of this, we have urged the government to provide import duty exemptions on critical inputs such as synthetic leather (PU-coated fabrics), footwear components, metal accessories, leather and footwear machinery, threads, moulds, toe puffs, eyelets, certain leather chemicals and packaging materials.”
A number of these inputs—including rubber chemicals, PU leather, adhesives, plastics and shoe soles—are derived from petroleum products. Supply chains have been disrupted due to the West Asia crisis, particularly with Iran’s closure of the Strait of Hormuz affecting the movement of oil and gas shipments.
Other key materials are imported from countries such as China, South Korea, Indonesia and Japan. Imports in the sector have already declined by 4.49 per cent year-on-year to USD 938 million.
On the export front, India’s leather and leather products shipments fell 2.36 per cent year-on-year to USD 4.26 billion in 2025-26. However, the industry expects total exports to reach around USD 5.6 billion once figures for non-leather goods are included.
Overall exports from the sector — covering finished leather, leather footwear, footwear components, leather garments, leather goods, saddlery and harness, non-leather footwear, non-leather goods, and fur products — stood at USD 5.57 billion in 2024-25, up from USD 5.38 billion in 2023-24 but below the USD 6 billion recorded in 2022-23.
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