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HomeGround ReportsAgra's centuries-old footwear industry has a new challenge—quality control

Agra’s centuries-old footwear industry has a new challenge—quality control

In Agra, shoemakers fear the change and disruption in the old ways of doing things. Industry associations fear fallouts, while workers are worried that they’ll be laid off.

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The clanking of machines, sound of hammers pounding, and the smell of leather and glue dominates Agra’s decades-old footwear industry. The air in this small-scale industry is now also laced with a new unease over a recent government decision to bring regulations and standards to India-made footwear.

Everyone in Agra is an expert in making footwear or its business. But they are now anxious about how the daily and fashion footwear will be included under the new rules, which are expected to kick in on 1 July. As the deadline approaches, questions are being asked in the warren of potholed lanes with their open drains where shoes, bags, jackets and belts are strung up for sale in pokey shops.

Agra’s footwear industry, which traces its roots to 16th century Mughal India, produces 1.5 lakh pairs of shoes every day. It is a thriving hub of around 30,0000 independent shoemakers — 60 organised and 3,000 small scale units. By 1885, Agra had become a major centre for footwear and got its first mechanised factory to manufacture boots for officers in the British government. The industry—dominated by Dalits and Muslim workers and run on a first-name basis and small cottage units of manufacturing—is now set to change because the Union Government wants to introduce quality control and prescribe an Indian standard to made-in India footwear.

What’s at stake is the government’s plan to increase India’s footprint in the global market. India’s leather products and footwear industry is estimated to be valued around $12 billion, and annual export of finished leather, leather products and footwear is also on the rise and is expected to cross $5 billion in 2022-23. India is the second largest consumer of footwear in the world, and accounts for  2 per cent of the international footwear market. There are plans to increase it to 10 per cent by 2030, according to reports.

And this is where quality control and standardisation come into play, especially for sports shoes, which industry experts say, have the highest potential for export. But it won’t come cheap, warns Kuldeep Singh, chairman of the Fraternity of Agra Footwear Manufacturers (FAFM). He estimates that the total cost of adhering to the new standards will come to Rs 20-25 lakh per manufacturer, including application, audit, sample testing, setting up of licence and marking fees, and setting up of testing centres.

In the units and factories nearby, manufacturers have a little over a month to standardise shoe sizes and dimensions. They will have to modify processes to meet the specifications detailed in the Footwear Made from Leather and Other Materials (Quality Control) Order 2022. In total, 27 categories of footwear must comply with a newly prescribed Indian Standard. It means testing in accredited laboratories or establishing facilities on site, getting BIS certificates and adhering to ISI standards. It requires adhering to prescribed material, sole, size, shape, design and so on depending on the category of shoes.

But unit owners in Agra fear the change and disruption in the old ways of doing things. Associations are abuzz with the imagined fallouts, while workers are worried that they’ll be laid off. Unit owners fear that they may not make the cut.

“We’ve only now stabilised from Covid. But now we are struggling with GST, and the high cost of electricity,” said a small manufacturer in Agra. In 2022, the government hiked the GST rate for shoes. Those selling affordable footwear (less than Rs. 1000 a pair) were especially hit after GST was revised from 5 per cent to 12 per cent.

Through its 3 June 2022 order, the Ministry of Commerce and Industry has brought various categories of footwear that must meet the new BIS norms. These include boots and shoes, canvas shoes and boots with rubber soles, Derby shoes, sports footwear, and leather safety footwear with direct-molded polyvinyl chloride (PVC) soles among others. But there’s no mention of traditional handcrafted footwear, zari work, etc.

Some reports state that shoemakers specialising in  handcrafted footwear or units with a turnover of less than Rs 50 lakh are exempt from new BIS standards.

A 2019 survey by professors at Aligarh Muslim University found that there were 30,000 household units mostly run by families who use basic machines like heat chambers and rely on hand tools to make shoes. Most have a turnover of around Rs 20-25 lakh, said Dilshad, who runs a small factory in Agra’s Sadar Bazar. An exemption will be a huge relief for them, but unit owners say they’ve not been given more details. 

Workshops or factories account for 30-40 per cent of the total industrial units in Agra, and many have a turnover of more than Rs 50 lakh. These will be the hardest hit.

“Not all footwear is being brought under it, some are being kept out,” said a BIS official. “New rules are coming. Meetings are happening, that’s why everyone is anxious to know what is going to happen. After all, the footwear (business) is complicated.” 

And theories are circulating among factory owners. Agra-based businessman Ramesh Bhaskar claimed that in a meeting some time ago, BIS officials said that businesses with a turnover of up to Rs 50 crore would be exempt. “We’re hoping that this situation will be cleared by the end of June,” said Bhaskar. 

Kuldeep Singh from FAFM confirmed this, but he’s more cynical about the process. Over time, exemptions will be removed. “I am hundred percent sure of this. This has been the pattern of the government, it has done this earlier as well,” Singh insisted.

An important question is still unanswered: Which footwear will be kept in the handmade category? What about sandals and shoes with zari work done by hand? In the gullies of Agra, workers raise these questions, but answers are not forthcoming.

A shoe making unit in Agra. | Heena Fatima | ThePrint

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Agra: The shoe hub

Twice a year, Paroma Chatterjee drives to Agra from CR Park in Delhi—not to see the Taj Mahal, but to buy shoes. She returns with a haul of boots, sandals with intricate zari work, slippers, and pumps, most of which she gets at half the price in the national capital.

Today, Agra is a key player in India’s footwear market, and is touted as a solution to international footwear brands looking to diversify outside China. About 65 per cent of the total domestic requirement of footwear in the country is met by the supply from Agra. But a few find their way into the streets of Agra itself to retail buyers like Paroma.

“I get the same shoes in Delhi stores, or find them online, for a much higher price. Plus since there is much more on offer here, there is a higher chance of me getting my size, colour preference and heel style,” she said. 

Many of the boots and bags she buys are branded export surplus, though a few have no indication of the material used.

“You can usually be sure of quality… Some have the leather mark or even if they don’t I have found the shopkeepers to be very honest about what is not leather,” she added. All this is likely to change when the rules kick in. Special attention will have to be paid to design, size and weight, material, etc. to ensure that there is no defect in the footwear. Each shoe will have to mention the size, manufacturer’s name, brand, year and month of manufacture and shelf life.

The Indian government wants to attain prominence in the global market by enhancing quality. Union Minister Piyush Goyal asked India’s biggest manufacturers in January this year to evaluate the patterns of countries having a higher worldwide share in exports.

Members of industry associations like FAFM and Retailers Association of India claim the new rule places an additional testing burden on footwear manufacturers. “Testing is expensive and time consuming and will add very limited value in terms of security,” Kuldeep Singh, chairman of FAFM said.

So far, across India, only around 30 manufacturers and suppliers have received BIS licences for 10 leather footwear categories and 18 for 13 non-leather footwear articles, according to a report in Mint.

FAFM has been calling for the government to extend the deadline on the grounds that there is no clarity and that it was not consulted.

“No one was called from the Agra side to speak. We request that if the government is going to implement such rules, it should not do so now. We demand that the government meet us once and discuss this,” said Singh.


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Compliance and quality

Footwear manufacturers and retailers have been pushing back against the ministry, demanding an extension in the deadline. But the government doesn’t seem to be moving on the deadline

Some associations say that they are still in talks with the government.

“We are still in talks with the government on this issue, so it is not appropriate to comment on it right now,” said an association president who did not wish to be identified.

The government appears disinclined to oblige, for now. Commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal in early May reiterated the government’s stand and pulled up manufacturers for delaying the process. 

“We have extended [the deadline] twice on the request of the industry…Now where is the question of still not [being] able to comply. There is some vested interest…,” he said, while pointing out that the industry had two-and-half-years to get on board with the plan.

Earlier in January, while addressing a gathering of industrialists engaged in manufacturing sports shoes in New Delhi, Goyal urged the footwear industry to focus on quality and capture a larger share in the international market.

Puran Davar, president of the Agra Footwear Manufacturers and Exporters Chamber (AFMEC), agreed with these rules and welcomed it. After all, it’s about India putting her best foot forward, he explains. 

According to him, this decision of the central government will take the footwear industry to a “new dimension” and will provide the best quality footwear to its consumers. It will open the international market to India-made footwear.

“The central government has already put a curb on the footwear being imported from China. These regulations will help enhance the footwear quality. Through this, we will be able to provide the best footwear to the consumer,” he said.

Last year, Goyal had predicted a tenfold growth in footwear production and exports. Agra exports 28% of India’s footwear. India is trying to gain a footing in the global economy by expanding into new markets in the Americas, the Middle East, Africa, and Latin America.

“Export is definitely going to increase with this. If we give quality of international level, then exports will definitely increase. Because of this, business will also be good. Just the rules have to be clarified,” Rakesh Bhaskar told ThePrint.


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Certification and quality checks

At a mid-sized factory unit, around eight to nine workers take a break. Machines thrum in the background; tools and electric wires are strewn across the floor. Conversation drifts to the new rules, but people are hesitant to talk about what it will mean for them. Most are not sure of what will come, but are expecting the worst.

“We take care of the finest quality in every aspect right from cutting to finishing of the shoes,” said 37-year-old Mohammad Waqar as he cuts into a sheet of leather with a pair of scissors in a large factory room.

The space is filled with benches and tables where employees are measuring out leather sheets and manually marking shapes of soles. Others are carefully cutting out shapes, stitching together parts, gluing heels or putting the final finishing touches to a near-ready pair of shoes.  

Waqar has no formal training, but he’s been doing this all his life. Now, he’s worried that when the new standards kick in, he’ll be let go; that the factory owner will replace him. Another concern is that the unit may simply fold if their employer doesn’t adapt. 

Manufacturers who don’t get the certification will fall to the wayside, and this is something that association members as well as government officials acknowledge could be the fallout.

Vaibhav (32), who owns a factory in Agra, is worried that the new rules will mean that he will have to upgrade his unit. With a turnover of around Rs two crore, he can’t afford to hire more labour, send shoes for testing or set up a testing facility himself. Many of the artisans he employs work from home.

Singh, who owns San Frissco in Artauni, accuses the government of wanting to “eliminate small businessmen”.

“For those who are already following this standard, there is no problem for them. The biggest benefit in this is to those industrialists who are not going to be affected by it. They [big manufacturers] want to end their competition with small industries,” said Singh, who is the owner of San Frissco.

Officials with the Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) acknowledge that this could well be the reality of units that do not comply.  

“After the standard is implemented, they will have difficulty in selling their footwear made without BIS standards and the demand in the market will decrease,” said an MSME official, who did not want to be named. Wholesale buyers, like those who purchase stock from units in Agra, will negotiate to bring the price down on the grounds that they don’t have a BIS certificate. 

“They will be forced to sell it at a price less than the cost. In this situation, the work of small industries can come to a standstill, he added.

The rules state that the shelf life of footwear should be written on the footwear. Manufacturers have objected to this. Their question is how can any footwear product expire. “Shoes are not an FMCG (fast-moving consumer goods). A person wears a shoe for 3-4 years. Its expiry date may be such that if it is kicked harder than the shoe, it may burst,” Singh said.

A more immediate concern is what happens to existing stock. Most units have stock that last for three months.

“Footwear made of some non-leather materials such as resin can last for some time only, after which their pasting starts leaving or some other defect starts. If the stock does not sell then all such footwear will be ruined and some retailers will suffer loss,Waqar told ThePrint.

Dilshad (27) grew up in this bustling shoe market. From a small home-run unit, his family’s business grew into a factory that employs around 25 artisans.

But Dilshad doesn’t care for all this talk on standardisation.

“We make poor quality footwear so that they break down quickly and customers come back to buy them. This allows us to make more and more footwear and that is how we make a living,” he said gloomily. 

In his business, quality is overrated.

(Edited by Anurag Chaubey)

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