150 domestic firms, 100 foreign players to participate in IIFF

About 150 domestic companies and 100 foreign players from countries including China and Italy will participate in the three-day footwear fair at Pragati Maidan here, the commerce ministry today said.
The India International Footwear Fair (IIFF) 2017 will begin from August 4.
It is being organised by India Trade Promotion Organization (ITPO) at a time when the exhibition complex is being revamped as the world class integrated exhibition-cum- convention centre, the ministry said in a statement.
This year, it said, buyers will find new designs of shoes based on aesthetics, design, fluidity and functionality in the fair.
"As many as 150 leading Indian companies are taking part. There will be 100 foreign participants from China, Taiwan and Italy. Display profile covers footwear and footwear components, accessories, synthetic material, chemicals, machineries, equipment and technologies," it said.

The fair also aims to project India as a favourite investment destination.

India is the second largest producer of footwear after China. It accounts for 9.57 per cent of global footwear production of 23 billion pairs.
The country produces 2,200 million pairs of different categories of footwear, out of which, 95 per cent is being sold in the domestic market.
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; Karnal, Sonepat, Faridabad, Gurgaon and Bahadurgarh in Haryana; Pune and Mumbai in Maharashtra.

About 1.10 million workers are engaged in the footwear manufacturing industry.