Agra footwear manufacturers to be trained

The Union ministry for industry and commerce, in association with the Central Leather Research Institute, has launched an "Umbrella Project" to train 60,000 people in Agra engaged in the manufacture of leather footwear.

They will be taught to use the latest technologies of footwear manufacture, including computerised CAD/CAM systems, and to use this training in increasing the share of Agra in footwear exports.

The leather footwear industry of Agra earns more than Rs 1,000 crore through exports, manufacturing approximately 200,000 pairs of shoes every day. While most of the shoes produced in the town may be acceptable in the domestic market, they have still to go a long way before they gain universal approval as a brand name.

As most of the footwear industry of the town is still composed of small-scale and unorganised footwear units, the leather footwear industry of Agra has been unable to make sufficient impact on international trade, seriously lacking in the capability to enter in large-scale footwear manufacture, as had been pointed out by a delegation of US footwear importers that arrived in Agra in October.

In the project, the CLRI will select 100 footwear designers and manufacturers who possess technical skills in footwear manufacture and are willing to upgrade their skills with the help of CLRI.

Another 60 people will be selected for the development of personnel management skills. These footwear designers will receive training in latest techniques of footwear manufacture and personnel management at the CLRI facility in Chennai.

According to sources at the CLRI, after receiving the training, these people will assist the CLRI in upgrading the level of footwear production in Agra by training several thousand shoe designers and manufacturers selected to receive training from the CLRI, with the help of various footwear-manufacturing companies.

The companies will designate some members of their staff for training on their behalf.

According to sources, the project, which has been launched by the CLRI recently in Agra, will continue till March 31 next year.

The Agra footwear industry is seeing remarkable shifts.

To discuss new demands of the shoe retail segment in the international footwear market, some months ago the Agra Footwear Manufacturers Chamber held a seminar on shoe retail trends at the Hotel Holiday Inn Agra recently in cooperation with the CLRI, the Council For Leather Export, and the Indian Shoe Federation.

Also, the footwear manufacturers of Agra took part in a footwear expo held in September in Milan, under the aegis of the Indian Trade Promotion Organization and the Union ministry of small-scale industries under its Export Promotion & Marketing scheme.