Although China is still the world's largest footwear producer, India is quickly catching up. According to Netscribes' market forecasts, the Indian footwear market is expected to reach 79.06 billion Indian rupees ($11 billion) by 2023. Several major factors are driving the growth of the Indian footwear market, including rapid urbanization, increased disposable income, measures to support the government, and the rapid development of the e-commerce market.

Since 2018, India’s annual output of footwear has exceeded 22 billion pairs. Currently, India accounts for nearly 13% of total global footwear production each year. At the same time, India's footwear exports are also increasing year by year, reaching nearly 3 billion U.S. dollars in 2019. The annual growth rate of 8% in the past five years is impressive. Over the decades, many leading footwear companies in India have also developed into the most popular footwear manufacturers in the global market.

 

India’s shoe industry is highly labor-intensive and currently employs nearly 3 million people. India’s shoe industry is highly fragmented, as approximately 75% of production comes from unorganized sectors, including very small, small and medium enterprises. Some of the country’s major footwear production centers include Kanpur and Agra in Uttar Pradesh, Ranipet, Wanyambardi and Ambul in Tamil Nadu.