Tamil Nadu leather sector to create 11 lakh jobs by 2015: CII

The leather industry in Tamil Nadu is expected to create 9-11 lakh new jobs by 2015, according to a recent study conducted by the Confederation of Indian Industry on the skill requirement in the industry.

With the creation of 9-11 lakh new jobs, the total number of employment opportunities in the industry would go up to 20-22 lakh in the state by 2015.

At present, the leather industry in the state provides employment to about 11 lakh people. A major proportion of the labour force is engaged in decentralised primary industrial functions of skin collection and tanning.

The CII study projects a 10-12 per cent compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) for the Tamil Nadu leather industry. Going by this estimate, the size of the leather industry will be over $8-10 billion (about Rs 36,400 crore -Rs 45,500 crore) by 2015.

Stating that the state is the major base for leather industry in India, the study says that over 50 per cent of about 2,000 tanneries in the country is in Tamil Nadu. However, like at the national level, as many as 94 per cent of the leather units in the state is in the small-scale sector.

According to the study, the $4 billion (about Rs 18,200 crore) Indian leather industry currently employs close to 20.5 lakh people all over the country. India is endowed with 15 per cent of the world raw material resources (livestock population). The country constitutes two per cent market share in the world leather trade.

At present, the production capacity of the Indian leather industry is 6.5 million pieces in terms of hides, and 170 million pieces in terms of skins. Tamil Nadu is the largest player in the leather industry in India with around 40 per cent share.

The study points out that the leather industry in the state needs people with knowledge in the use of various chemicals, machinery and maintenance. For the procurement and production operations, the industry needs people with an ability to sort leather quality, optimise productivity, design and pattern making skills.

As the industry is focusing on quality, waste minimisation, energy conservation and control, it has created more opportunities for people skilled in these areas. Cursrently, the leather industry's productivity registers eight per cent growth every year. The average productivity in the leather industry stands at one lakh per employee, per year. However, the study expects the productivity to grow to 1.4 lakh by 2010 and to two lakh by 2015.