IGEP Trust has worked extensively to promote the Indian leather and footwear sectors. Special emphasis has been given for the promotion of Indian leather exports to Germany. Germany has traditionally been the single largest market for leather and leather products from India with a share of about 20 % of India's overall leather sector exports. Since the 1990s, IGEP Trust has helped to reinforce product quality, product testing and marketing of the Indian leather sector. IGEP Trust has facilitated the participation and international exposure of several leading Indian leather exporting companies in some of the internationally prominent German trade shows such as GDS (for footwear) and SPOGA (for leather accessories and saddlery goods).
A sector where IGEP Trust worked extensively was the Indian footwear sector. Prior to 1988, India only exported shoe uppers. But after the late 1990s, India has started producing and exporting complete shoes. This was made possible by IGEP Trust helping the Indian footwear SMEs with product and quality training, manpower development and extensive export marketing support.
During the 1990s the Indian leather sector suffered from the lack of any testing centre within India. To fill this urgent necessity, IGEP Trust facilitated the establishment of a dedicated chemical lab and testing centre for leather products in the Footwear Design and Development Institute in Noida. It also facilitated the training for the laboratory staff in collaboration with PFI in Germany.
