CLE, the Council for Leather Exports, has allegedly launched a confrontation with the government of Tamil Nadu, India, for the settling of a production cluster near the city of Vellore, in the South-Eastern area of the country. According to Indian press, the association has proposed to dedicate a large area of about 100 acres, or half of one square kilometre, to the development of a site that can host about 100 hundred medium and small businesses operating in the leather segment, requiring a total investment of 40 million USD. “The cluster will provide a very important push for the leather industry”, stated to the press Israr Ahmed, regional president of CLE for the South, who also added that the administration guided by Edappadi Palaniswami, when presented with the project, “responded very positively”, and it is “probable that the project will begin soon”. Among the advantages that the cluster would provide, most of all within the footwear and leather goods’ production, is the benefit of sustaining an industry that has been growing for the past few years -, always according to Cle’s data -, as it was able to penetrate new markets such as the United States, Russia, Japan, Australia, and Poland. “The district, – concludes Aqeel Ahmed, president of CLE, to Indian newspapers -, will help us increase our country’s exports”. Meanwhile, complications in the leather district of Kanpur continue, as proves the fact that over 100 tanneries were forced to reduce production due to the high pollution levels in the Ganges river. In fact, on Thursday, New Delhi’s government stated that it would not give any sort of economical relief to businesses in the area, all of which had asked for financing to purchase more modern and less polluting machinery from those currently being used.
