1. INDUSTRY BACKGROUND
The term footwear covers a vast range of products made from many different materials. Boots, shoes, sandals, slippers and clogs are made wholly or partly of rubber, synthetic and plastics materials, canvas, rope and wood. In fact, in 2007, rubber and plastics footwear made up 53% of the pie whereas leather footwear accounted for 14% only with the remaining 33% of the footwear made of textile and other types of materials.

In recent years, the footwear industry has become highly globalised, with competition from countries with lower labor costs and less regulated working conditions forcing footwear manufacturers to look at restructuring and re-locating their facilities. As the World population increases and living standards improve, the demand for footwear has shot up rapidly.

Over the last decade and a half, Asian countries have emerged as the most powerful destination for footwear production, with established names in the US and Europe economies having shifted their facilities (partly and wholly) to Asian countries.

GLOBAL CONSUMPTION OVER 10 YEARS CONSUMPTION(MILLION OF PAIRS) | 1998 | 2000 | 2002 | 2004 | 2008 | ASIA(ALL) | 4744 | 5222 | 5474 | 5840 | 6528 | AMERICAS | 3011 | 3274 | 3279 | 3433 | 3611 | EUROPE | 2239 | 2396 | 2544 | 2717 | 2886 | REST OF THE WORLD | 1086 | 1187 | 1172 | 1317 | 1399 | TOTAL | 11080 | 12079 | 12469 | 13307 | 14424 |

2. THE INDIAN OUTLOOK
The Indian footwear industry is estimated to be worth around INR 160 billion or $4 billion. It is the second largest global producer of footwear after China, accounting for more than 14 % of global footwear production of 14.52 billion pairs. The Indian economy is the world’s second largest in terms of population, and it ranks second in the world in production of footwear. With a capacity of 2.06