Footwear Market: India excludes China from the footwear market, better quality and lower prices play a big role.
India has ousted China from the footwear market. Shoes and slippers made in Bahadurgarh have a big role in this. The shoes and slippers made there are also beating China-made footwear on the basis of their better quality and lower price. This is the reason why footwear imports from China have come down to just 5 per cent in the country, which used to be around 90 per cent 10 years ago.
Not only this, Bahadurgarh’s footwear industry is not far behind in exports as well. Shoes and slippers worth about Rs 3,000 crore are exported from here every year. Bahadurgarh’s 70 percent shoe companies export their goods.
With over 6,000 industrial units, Bahadurgarh has around 1,000 footwear manufacturers. Here 480 shoe industries run in the first footwear park of the country. Stitching of shoe upper along with various types of small work is done in street and micro units. Big names like Action, Relaxo, Aerobac, Aqualite, Today and Sumangalam Footwear are also the products of Bahadurgarh.
25,000 crore turnover, three lakh jobs
Bahadurgarh’s footwear industry with a turnover of around Rs 25,000 crore holds its own in the markets across the world. An investment of about Rs 20,000 crore has already been made here in the industrial area developed by HSIIDC. Bahadurgarh’s footwear industry also has a big contribution in providing employment. More than 3 lakh people work in these industries.
Mold does not have to be made separately, hence the cost is reduced
Subhash Jagga, general secretary of Bahadurgarh Footwear Association, said that the structure of the feet of the people of India, Africa and Gulf countries is the same. Hence, the footwear manufacturers of Bahadurgarh do not face any problem in making quality shoes with perfect fitting. Indian entrepreneurs do not have to make separate molds by spending lakhs of crores of rupees, which reduces the cost. Only goods made for the domestic market are exported. This gives the country a revenue of billions of rupees.
Export to 65 countries including Dubai
Dubai, Oman, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Qatar, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Ethiopia, Somalia, Rwanda, South Sudan, Zambia, Mauritius, Zimbabwe, Malawi, Seychelles, Comoros, Mayotte, Kuwait, Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia, Abu Dhabi, Nigeria, Bahadurgarh’s PU shoes, slippers and sandals are exported to 65 countries of the world including Ajman and Sharjah.
If the government helps, you will get better results
More than 25 lakh pairs of shoes, slippers and sandals are made daily in Bahadurgarh. Every day 80 containers of shoes are exported from here alone. We can give better results if the government helps in further developing the infrastructure. -Narinder Chikara, Senior Vice President, Bahadurgarh Footwear Association
