No PLI scheme for leather, footwear and toys planned: Govt tells Parliament

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The ministry of commerce and industry on July 22 clarified that there is no production linked incentive (PLI) scheme in the works to boost manufacturing of leather products, footwear and toys in the country. The response by Jitin Prasada, union minister of state for commerce and industry, in the Parliament is contrary to the expectation of the respective industries.

"It is to state that, there is no PLI Scheme for the toys, leather, and footwear products and as such there is no action ongoing or pending in this regard," Prasada said in a written reply to a question raised by Rani Srikumar, a Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) MP from Tamil Nadu.

The minister, however, stated that schemes different from PLIs will be implemented for these sectors. For leather and non-leather footwear, the scheme may cover facilitating financing and the necessary skilling among other things to support design capacity, component manufacturing, and machinery required. This was also briefly mentioned in the Union budget speech by finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman for FY26.

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It was also stated that the Union government has already approved the ‘Indian Footwear and Leather Development Programme’ (IFLDP) for the period 2021-26 with a total outlay of Rs. 1700 crore through six sub-schemes which provide support for modernization, capacity expansion and technological up-gradation of production units or setting-up of new units in the footwear and leather sector. For example, under Integrated Development of Leather Sector (IDLS) sub- scheme of IFLDP,  a financial assistance to the extent of 40% of the cost of plant and machinery is provided to the Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) units.

"Similarly, a new scheme for toy sector has been announced in the Budget speech aiming to make India a global hub for toys by focusing on development of clusters, skills, and a manufacturing ecosystem that will create high-quality, unique, innovative, and sustainable toys," read the minister's reply.

The minister also stated in the Parliament that in 2024-25, India's total export of leather, leather products and footwear $4,828.97 million. Of this, 35.17% or $1,698.59 million worth of exports went from Tamil Nadu alone.