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India is the world’s second-largest manufacturer of leather goods after China. It can create jobs, growth, and export, with yearly exports exceeding USD 2 billion. The industry has transformed from a mere transporter of raw materials to a well-established exporter of value-added leather products and completed goods.
Leather Industry in India
The Indian leather industry is one of the oldest globally, having been in operation since the 19th century. Since its inception, the industry has been tied to the social and organisational structure. It appears complex with aspects of continuity and traditional systems that have evolved. The supreme quality of Indian leather and efficient craftsmanship has given Indian leather goods a firm foothold worldwide. The market also has a high capability for expansion and has become more organised over the years.
The leather and footwear industry employs 4.42 million people, making it one of the most labour-intensive industries in India. It is also one of the main sources of employment for women, with roughly 40% of the workforce being female. More than half a million unemployed persons have found work in this industry in the previous five years after receiving training from various government programs.
With an annual leather manufacturing capacity of 1.8 billion square feet, India is the world’s largest animal producer. India produces 13 per cent of the world’s footwear output, or 16 billion pairs. Each year, India produces 2065 million pairs of shoes in various styles. As a result, the company exports 115 million pairs, accounting for 95 per cent of its total output.
Exports
With a market share of 10 per cent worldwide and 2 percent of global trade, the Indian leather industry is a major exporter in India. Indian leather clothing, saddlery & harness, and leather goods are all exported from India, making it the second-largest exporter of leather and leather goods globally. Now, the industry is at a point where it’s utilising all available raw materials to their full potential and reaping the most from exports.
India’s leather exports are increasing, while leather’s share of India’s total exports has decreased. Industrial tariff liberalisation is expected to benefit developing countries like India, with a price advantage over their primary exports. Many companies have to contend with a lack of access to capital and regulatory hurdles in setting up, maintaining, and growing a business due to inadequate infrastructure and weak institutional frameworks. Removing these restraints is essential to the sector’s ability to run smoothly.
Reforms to grow Indian Leather Industry
The Indian government has taken several steps to boost the country’s footwear industry. At first, tanning the hide or skin and turning it into leather was a time-consuming and labour-intensive procedure. Processing leather and turning it into final goods used to take weeks or months back in the days before modern technology. Consumer tastes and demand necessitate that leather goods be high quality, variety, and consistent. As a result of the Indian leather industry’s successful launch, scientific ideas have been integrated into the industry’s business model.
A new battleground has formed over trade liberalisation, economic growth, and environmental effects in the leather and leather goods industry worldwide in the last decade. India’s eighth-largest earner of foreign currency is leather. Many traded commodity lines enjoy significant price advantages because of small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs).
Industry and government have responded in various ways, but several critical problems that might aid the sector’s progress toward profitability are still open for discussion and resolution today. New policies to attract foreign direct investment (FDI) in the tanning industry and infrastructure development in leather clusters are among the study’s primary concerns. Increasing commerce and competitiveness in the country necessitates that the industry’s technological and organisational skills and productivity be upgraded.
Future Prospects of the Indian Leather Industry
Under the automatic approach, 100 % FDI is already permissible in this area. An investment of Rs. 2600 crore is being made by the government in the Indian Footwear, Leather and Accessories Development Programme (IFLADP), which provides financial assistance for key areas such as increasing production capacity and upgrading technology, upgrading CETPs, HRD, and establishing institutional facilities, etc. Consequently, the Indian leather and footwear sector has become an attractive investment destination because of the vast market potential and the Government’s support measures and ease of doing business policies.
Start-ups in the leather and footwear industry have room to grow now that COVID has passed, both domestically and internationally. The following are some of the most important of these. Due to changes in the MSME definition, 98 per cent of the leather, leather products, and footwear businesses now fall within the MSME category, up from 92 per cent in the past.
The leather and footwear sector has significantly benefited from the involvement of the Council for Leather Exports. This industry has a lot of potential for growth and development, both domestically and internationally.
General awareness is the process of learning about a certain subject relevant to a society’s culture, civilization, community, or a country’s social interests; this important knowledge can also take the shape of cultural knowledge. Every area of human existence is related to general awareness, and it may even be part of academic study. This knowledge can be extremely beneficial to an individual or a community. A general understanding of art, discovery, athletics, politics, culture, film, medicine, and history are all examples of what comes under general awareness.
Almost every area of human existence is covered by general awareness, including clothing, family, physical health, and aspects of entertainment, arts, and sciences. General awareness is an important feature of human life since it allows us to be aware of many things that are going on around us. General awareness aids in making future decisions, vacation planning, and having the correct understanding of the things and situations around us.
Importance of General Knowledge
Common sense is a valuable asset that aids our personal and intellectual development. It both narrows our perspective of the world and helps us better grasp events. It also examines them. Common sense is mostly used to determine what has to be done or what is occurring. The importance of general knowledge in our life is described below.
1. Better Grades
General knowledge assists any student in increasing their academic knowledge by providing proper knowledge of various types of events and useful events from the past, through which students can gain a comprehensive understanding of basic facts. This knowledge also assists students in successfully participating in various quiz and debate competitions. General knowledge also assists students in obtaining high marks in competitive entrance exams.
2. Making Better Decisions
General knowledge helps to keep us connected and up to date with every part of the world. Aside from that, it aids in our ability to have a positive social impact. It also aids in making important life decisions and deciding on career options. Common sense is useful in providing accurate information about various options and requirements.
3. Interaction
General knowledge promotes effective interaction between people of different cultures by providing a good understanding of diverse cultures and societies. It also makes it easier for people from diverse communities to acclimate, which is only feasible with prior knowledge of the culture and region. Common sense about diverse cultural etiquettes is very beneficial, making interacting with different individuals easy and pleasant.
4. Improving Public Speaking Abilities
General knowledge is needed to boost public speaking abilities; it provides great control over current events, which instil confidence in public speaking. This is only achievable with adequate knowledge and vocabulary. It also makes it easier for students to pick up new topics and talk about them, allowing them to share intriguing facts.
Difference Between General Awareness and General Studies
Competitive examinations see a variety of specific syllabi regarding job profiles, which are mainly made for conducting examinations. There is also a section of General Knowledge and General Awareness in these exams. Both the scope and meaning of these two words are different, which needs to be explained here.
The following is the difference between general awareness and general studies.
The term “general awareness” refers to people’s understanding of what is going on in the world in the present, that is, the events of day-to-day life during a period of 3 to 6 months. This number of months might be taken into consideration when planning. On the other hand, general studies is a study of all the subjects you’ve studied since elementary school.
General studies refers to wide, general, universal understanding gained through experience or education that aids in the transmission of knowledge and skills. It also aids in the dissemination of extensive or general information. This can be accomplished by considerable training and a focus on a single media.
General awareness primarily gives comprehensive knowledge on a certain situation or development; however, it is limited to regular happenings in the news around the world and has no bearing on historical events. National matters, international affairs, bilateral affairs, sports, people in the news, places in the news, and recent events in the banking sector are all covered under general awareness.
Difference Between General awareness and General Intelligence
General intelligence is a construct that consists of a variety of cognitive talents. These skills enable people to learn new things and solve issues. This broad mental capacity underpins specialised mental abilities in domains like spatial, numerical, mechanical, and verbal abilities. Artificial general intelligence (AGI) refers to an intelligent person’s potential ability to comprehend or learn any intellectual endeavour that a human can. It is a key goal of certain artificial intelligence research, as well as a popular topic in science fiction and futurology.
General awareness refers to being aware of current events. General awareness is simply concerned with the daily news from across the world and has little to do with historical occurrences. Many competitive exams use the word “current affairs” to refer to broad awareness.
Conclusion
For today’s comprehensive education, it is very important to have general awareness, whose importance is being seen mainly in the field of scientific and technical education. General awareness is necessary for all, which helps in personal prosperity. General awareness has different meanings for different elements, such as garden planning, chequebook addition, subtraction, cooking, and art comprehension,and has special use of general awareness, which helps the students to grow on the academic front.
