Taiwanese & Vietnamese Firms Eye India's Footwear Investments

• Taiwanese and Vietnamese firms are interested in investing in India’s non-leather footwear sector with government support.
• India aims to grow footwear exports to USD 7 billion by 2025–26, with the US as the largest market.
• CLE urges rollout of a focused product scheme; Indian companies are exploring global partnerships.

Companies from Taiwan and Vietnam are keen to invest in India's non-leather footwear segment, and government support will be necessary if they are to succeed, RK Jalan, Chairman of the Council for Leather Exports (CLE), said recently.

Jalan said that businesses from these nations currently buy supplies including shoe soles, moulds, machinery and fabrics from China.

"Vietnamese and Taiwanese firms are keen to invest in India. We need to support them so that they can import these goods smoothly into the country for their manufacturing facilities", he added.

He explained that India's footwear exports are growing steadily, and the council is working towards USD 7 billion in shipments in 2025–26, up from USD 5.75 billion in 2024–25.

The United States is still the largest export market with USD 957 million in exports or nearly 20% of total exports, the UK (11%) and Germany. "We are expecting about 18 per cent growth this year. Promotion of manufacturing in the country will help further boost exports and job creation", Jalan noted.

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He said a trade agreement with the US would help India's presence in the US market, where the footwear sector is faced with 18.5% import duty.

Taiwan and Vietnam are two of the world's largest players in the footwear industry. Vietnam is very strong in mass manufacturing and exporting footwear. Taiwan is very innovative in designing and developing footwear for leading international companies.

Jalan also urged the government to implement the focused product scheme for the footwear and leather sectors, which was announced in the Budget, to increase design capacity, component production, and machinery to support the non-leather footwear manufacturing sector.

Yadvendra Singh Sachan, MD of Growmore International Ltd in Kanpur, echoed the statements made by Jalan and said that it is good Taiwanese companies are already investing in Tamil Nadu and that his company is looking to have foreign collaboration in the future to make leather goods more productive.

He added, "They have the best technologies in the non-leather footwear sector. Their entry will help domestic firms in increasing quality production. Huge opportunities are there for investments in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar because of the availability of affordable labour in these states".