India Trade Promotion Organization (ITPO) is all set to organise India International Footwear Fair (IIFF) 2017 from 4th to 6th August at Pragati Maidan in New Delhi. The fair aims to make the buyers experience the emergence of technology in the industry and introduce new opportunities to the Indian footwear market.

The 3rd edition of the fair has come perfectly timed with the Pragati Maidan emerging as a world-class integrated exhibition and convention center.

The fair is being organised with the support of Confederation of Indian Footwear Industries (CIFI), Council for Leather Export (CLE), Central Leather Research Institute (CLRI) and Indian Footwear Components Manufacturers Association (IFCOMA).

In the three-day fair, 150 Indian companies and 100 foreign participants from China, Taiwan and Italy will participate. The participants will exhibit a wide range of shoes, shoe materials, accessories, synthetic materials, as well as PVC/PU, chemical, machine equipments and technologies.

“This year, the fair has tremendous significance, especially when a unified Goods and Services Tax (GST) has been brought into effect in the country to re-shape India’s business landscape by making the country an easier place to do business. Apart from unveiling the export potential of India, IIFF aims to project India as a favourite investment destination,” an official release from Ministry of Commerce and Industry said.

Significantly, a major portion of footwear industry is SME driven and employs as many as 1.1 million workers.

India is the second largest manufacturer of footwear in the world after China. The nation’s share in the worldwide production of 23 billion pairs stands at 9.57 per cent. India itself manufactures 2200 million pairs of various categories. Of the total stock, 95 per cent of footwears are sold in the domestic market itself.

The major production centres in India are Chennai, Ranipet and Ambur in Tamil Nadu, Mangolpuri and Narela in New Delhi, Kanpur, Agra, Noida and Saharanpur in Uttar Pradesh, Jalandhar and Ludhiana in Punjab, Pune and Mumbai in Maharashtra, Calicut and Ernakulam in Kerala, among others.