Kolkata :

Eid celebrations arrived early this year in the lanes and bylanes of Topsia, Talbagan, Rippon Street, Tantibagan and Batanagar with Arun Jaitley’s Budget raising hopes of more orders from local footwear firms, and hence, the prospect of more jobs.

In the Budget, excise duty on leather footwear priced between Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 has been slashed to 6% from 12%. This will essentially mean a Rs 30-60 reduction in price of a pair of shoes. While the price cut may appear meager, industry sources said it is crucial for survival as the local small-scale footwear industry had to compete with cheap imports from China.

“The Budget brought good news for small units that supply to individual stores like ours or bigger regional brands like Khadims or Sreeleathers. As sales increase, it will mean more orders for local makers and that in turn will generate more employment in a job-starved city,” said Park Cobbler proprietor Zafar Ahmed.

While stores have already stocked up for Eid-ul-Fitr shopping to be celebrated at the end of Roza, the concession extended by Jaitley will come in handy for the next season, particularly stocks that are placed before Durga Puja and Diwali.

Sreeleathers chairman SB Dey is certain the footwear market will expand following the duty cut. “We will now be able to do business on a level-playing field,” he said. Around 80% of footwear sold by Sreeleathers has a price tag of Rs 500-1,000.

According to CLC Tanners’ Association president Ramesh Juneja, the state will also benefit as footwear manufacturers increase production capacity to meet the demand. “The added incentive to manufacturing units with investment in excess of Rs 25 crore will spur the regional brands to expand capacity,” he remarked.

SS Kumar of College of Leather Technology said the incentive will particularly benefit the labour-intensive leather goods industry. “PVC goods are manufactured by machines but leather shoes have to be hand-made. So any incentive to the leather industry will mean more employment,” he said.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Kolkata / TNN / July 11th, 2014