Leather was one of the first manufactured materials, and the Leather Technologist can claim to be a member of an ancient profession.  The leather industry occupies a prominent place in the Indian economy in view of its substantial export earnings, employment potential and growth. The Indian Leather industry is the third largest export earner in the country. The industry covers a vast spectrum of inputs, activities, skills and products i.e. livestock, hides and skins, tanning, leather products and exports. An ideal leather industry network comprise of the livestock (Cattle, Buffalo, Goat), slaughter houses, raw hide/skin collection, tanning Industry, leather Industry, other allied industries, export Market.

India is the leading livestock holding country in the world. The large population of cattle, buffalo, sheep and goat gives Indian an edge in the international markets of leather and products which are backed by introduction of latest tanning technologies to produce quality leather for the manufacture of many value-added products. 50 percent of animals slaughtered for their skin and hides in any urban center are from unauthorized slaughter. Karnataka has emerged as a major source of cattle for slaughterhouses as they are available at cheaper rates.

The Tanning industry in India is well developed. It has back up of a strong R&D base, modern technology as well as trained manpower. Tanneries are concentrated in three states viz. Tamil Nadu, West Bengal and Uttar Pradesh. These are largely exists in the small-scale sector with a share of 93% in the total number of tanneries in the organized sector. In order to enhance the internal competitiveness of the small and medium enterprises (SMEs) - a dominant and fast growing segment of the Indian economy - the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), Southern Region is extending its unique SME Cluster initiative to Hyderabad, Madurai, Chennai, Pondicherry and Coimbatore. Under the leather park package, Chennai is going to have two parks — one for footwear and the other for components.

The main products made out of leather are footwear, leather garments, leather goods such as handbags, belts, wallets, gloves, sport goods, harness and saddlery, upholstery, etc. Of all these items, it is footwear that consumes about 60% of the total leather production and the second most important product is leather garments. Its share in total exports of leather and leather products has been rising and is presently around 24%. Our main competitors are China, Italy and Turkey.

Leather Industry produces several products and the quality, efficiency and profitability of tanners' operations for all the products depend significantly upon the quality and consistency of the raw materials that they source. Leather is a versatile, durable and prestigious material, with a wide range of desirable attributes and it retains its appearance and functional properties if it is correctly handled and maintained, which depends on the type of leather it is. To improve the quality of leather and to minimize the waste from the production process several leather institutions and associations like Central Leather Research Institute (Chennai) are working on it.

There are certain disadvantages of leather industry for Indian leather market which shows its effect on the environment due to the large amount of waste production, which leads to the unsustainability issues, but utilisation of that waste for byproduct manufacturing by other allied industries, proper treatment of the waste and government support add to the positive side of this industry.

This chapter emphasizes the status of slaughterhouses, tanneries and leather Industries in India.