Under the Establishment of Institutional Facilities, Sub-Scheme of Indian Footwear, Leather and Accessories Development Programme (IFLADP) of Department for Promotion of Industries and Internal Trade (DPIIT), Ministry of Commerce & Industry, Government of India, Footwear Design & Development Institute (FDDI) has brought up world class infrastructure and the skills second to none through upgradation of seven of the existing campuses of FDDI into ‘Centre of Excellence’ (CoEs).
These CoEs which have been operationalized will act as a unique vibrant centre for students, industry, academicians, designers, researchers and educational institutions providing the facility specifically equipped for addressing the particular thematic area of specialization pertaining to footwear, fashion, leather products, and retail & fashion merchandise.
To meet the cutting edge technologies requirement such as additive manufacturing, AI application in design and data analysis, latest software’s, and augmented reality application, digital enterprise, FDDI has initiated the processes of Industry 4.0 application through operationalization of these CoEs which are having the best available infrastructure and skills to not only aid research and development, but also to address concerns of the industry like product development, technological assistance and centres for incubation and entrepreneurship development.
The operationalization and technological showcasing of these COE’s, equipped with latest machineries were demonstrated in the presence of representatives from industry associations including Council for Leather Exports (CLE), Central Leather Research Institute, Chennai (CSIR-CLRI), Leather Sector Skill Council (LSSC), Confederation of Indian Footwear Industries (CIFI), Council for Footwear Leather & Accessories (CFLA), Indian Leather Products Association (ILPA), Indian Footwear Components Manufacturers Association (IFCOMA).
Apart from these, several other representatives from local/regional sectoral units consisting of doyens of the Industry were also present.
At CoE Hyderabad, Prof. Avinash, Joint Director & Prof. Annaji Sarma from NIFT, Prof. Bhoomaih Bandi from NID, representatives from Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS), All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Bibinagar, Care Institute of Health Sciences, Aveda Research Center, LEPRA – NGO, The High Clothing, Telangana Leather Industries Promotion Council (TLIPC), Commissionerate of Industries, Telangana Government were present.
At CoE, Patna, some of the distinguished guests were from Padwa Footwear, Raushnita Enterprises, Palak Enterprises, Rakesh Enterprises, Jeevika Rural Development Department, SJ International, NIFT-Patna, IIT-Patna, MIT-Muzaffarpur, Sketchers, V-Mart etc.
At CoE, Patna, the delegates had the opportunity to explore the model retail store, immersing themselves in a diverse range of retailing experiences encompassing value, lifestyle, and luxury offerings all in one location.
At CoE Kolkata, besides the distinguished guests from illustrious industry organizations like CLE, CLRI, NIFT ILPA, EPCH leading Kolkata-based leather manufacturing companies like D2 International, Jc International, Om Leathers, Bharat Enterprises, Asg Leather, Maagnum International, GLFORMAX, Bureau Vertas, Sanjoy Sen Consultant, Bureau Veritas, Harman Sales, JC Group, Trio Trend, Edcons and others marked their presence by actively attending the open house discussion.
At CoE, Jodhpur, a presentation was made explaining the need of special purpose footwear for the safety and occupational application and to assist and carry out support for the orthotics and prosthetics application.
Second in Command, BSF, Mr. Y.S Khangorat, Dr. Rohit Garg, Orthopedic department, S. N. Medical College, Mr. Atul Misra-Regional Director, CLE, Mr. Ankit Jain-Bhagwan Mahavir Viklang Sewa Kendra, Mr. C.P. Mikhijani, Chaiman T Star Industries, Mr. Atul Mehta, CEO-Sole Craft, Mr. Kailash Tomar President Award Winner-Mozari Artisan and other prominent artisans marked their presence at CoE, Jodhpur.
At CoE, Noida, the state of art infrastructure to foster continual research and innovation has been created which will provide an impetus to the recent emphasis of the Government of India for making the country self-reliance in manufacturing and augmenting the service sector with double digit growth plans.
The quality standards development and enforcement across the value shall be taken up on a much larger scale as the labs have been restructured with new advanced machines for improving testing and inspection in a transparent manner so that the Industry gets benefitted through the services of its International Testing Centre (ITC).
At CoE, Rohtak, delivering the ‘Keynote Address’ MD, FDDI said, “This CoE is having world class infrastructure facility to provide much needed R&D and address concerns of the industry like boosting research and innovation in non-leather footwear sector, product development, research projects for sports footwear and related products development of specialized module.”
Besides MD - FDDI, Secretary - FDDI and Executive Director – FDDI, Banur campus, Ms. Pragya Singh, IRS, Mr. Sanjay Lekha, Chairman, CLE, Mr. Atul Mishra, Regional Director, CLE, Mr. Subhash Jagga, President- Bahadurgarh Footwear Association, Mr. Ajay Khetan, MD Satish Khattar & Sons and others dignitaries marked their presence at CoE, Rohtak.
The purpose of the operationalization and demonstration of technology at the respective CoE was to showcase how it can contribute towards developing a better ecosystem for the industry in India.
During the operationalization of the CoEs, the technical experts discussed various topics such as best practices, technological advancements, research initiatives, and other related topics to bring about an overall improvement in the industry.
Keeping in view of the future technical requirement and to promote innovation at these CoEs, FDDI is in discussion with various leading institutions for collaboration across the world.
These CoEs paves way in fulfilling the goals of Hon’ble Prime Minister’s ‘Vocal for Local’, ‘Make in India’, ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat’, ‘Skill India’, and ‘Start-up India’ Programmes and thus, achieving the ambitious target of USD 47 Billion by 2030 by the Leather and Leather Products Sector of the country.
