India’s leather industry should aspire to be the topmost in the world, commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal recently said. Satisfied that the sector is aspiring to grow to $10 billion by 2025—though that still gives it a growth rate of only 15-17 per cent—he said that because of the sector’s potential, it can look at even more ambitious targets.

Kolhapuri chappals alone can achieve $1-billion exports target, he told the National Export Excellence Awards presentation ceremony of the Council for Leather Exports (CLE) in New Delhi.

Goyal appealed the leather industry to be self-sufficient and not wait for the government to roll out schemes, give land at subsidised rates or come out with a performance-linked incentive scheme, an official release said.

He assured that the government will help the industry by setting up Bureau of Indian Standards laboratories in close proximity to leather clusters.