The commerce and industry ministry on Saturday said Indian Footwear and Leather Development Programme (IFLDP) has been approved for continuation with a financial outlay of Rs 1,700 crore. IFLDP has been approved by the cabinet on January 19 for continuation till March 31, 2026, or till further review, whichever is earlier, it said in a statement. The programme aims at development of infrastructure for the leather sector, address environmental concerns specific to the leather sector, facilitate additional investments, employment generation and increase in production.
Sub-schemes approved under the programme include sustainable technology and environmental promotion; integrated development of leather sector (IDLS); establishment of institutional facilities; Mega Leather Footwear and Accessories Cluster Development; brand promotion; and development of design studios. It added that development of design studios (proposed outlay Rs 100 crore) is a new sub-scheme and it would promote marketing/export linkages, facilitate buyer- seller meets, display designs to international buyers and work as interface for the trade fairs.
Under the IDLS, with a proposed outlay Rs 500 crore, assistance would be provided to the sectoral units for their modernization/capacity expansion/technology up-gradation on or after January 1, 2020. It added that under brand promotion, the government would provide 50 per cent assistance of total project cost subject to a limit of Rs 10 crore for each brand in the next three years to promote ten Indian brands in the international market. The designated agency to implement the sub-scheme is being proposed to be selected amongst institutes like NID, NIFT, IBEF, IIFT or institutes of similar standing,” it said.