Govt's clampdown on Muslim-run leather units hits jobs, drag exports by 13%

India, the world's second-biggest supplier of shoes and leather garments, exports nearly half its leather goods

A government crackdown on Muslim-dominated abattoirs and the trade of cattle dragged down India’s exports of leather shoes by more than 13 per cent in June, as leading global brands turned to China, Bangladesh, Indonesia and Pakistan to secure supplies.

The drop in exports of shoes and leather garments comes as a setback for Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who has sought to create millions of jobs by more than doubling the leather industry’s revenues to $27 billion by 2020.

Emboldened by the victory of Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the 2014 general election, Hindu hard-liners, who consider cows sacred, became more