Impact of War on Agra's Footwear Industry: Soaring Raw Material Prices, Acute Shortages!

Agra, a major hub of India's footwear industry in Uttar Pradesh, has been grappling with severe repercussions of the war over the past few months. The Russia-Ukraine conflict and ongoing events in the Middle East have led to a drastic decline in the global supply of raw materials, leaving thousands of footwear manufacturers and traders in Agra in dire straits.

The war has caused a steep surge in the prices of key raw materials such as polymers, rubber, and leather. Agra is home to over 5,000 footwear manufacturing units and supports a workforce of over 2 lakh people dependent on this industry. While the rising cost of raw materials has inflated production expenses, the inability to hike product prices proportionally due to reduced market demand has squeezed profit margins. Several small-scale manufacturers are on the brink of shutting down their operations.

The shortage of raw materials has also created an acute stock crisis. Agra primarily produces synthetic footwear and sandals, and the unavailability of polymers and rubber has severely hampered production. Traders are struggling to restock as the scarcity of raw materials makes it nearly impossible to procure new supplies, forcing them to rely on dwindling old inventories.