Research Projects

The leather sector in India is a top ten foreign exchange earner, providing employment opportunities to 3-4 million people, with 30% of these being women. The Scheduled Case community, particularly in West Bengal, is the predominant workforce in the leather sector. The Western region of Bhangar block, South-24-Parganas, West Bengal is proposed to set up an innovative STI hub in the area. The hub aims to provide skilling on sourcing small skins from invasive Janitor fish, a type of crocodile fish, and convert them into valuable leather/leather products. The project aims to increase the annual income of beneficiaries by up to 8.0 lakhs by converting Janitor fish skin into leather products. The project also aims to uplift the socio-economic status of Scheduled Caste communities and Scheduled Case migrant leather workers through technological interventions and facilities creation. The project will also generate a Group of Skilled Manpower, train fisheries/fish farmers, and create a Rural Enterprise Network REN to explore new market avenues.