§1What this business is
Wet-salted buffalo hides are soaked, fleshed, limed, unhaired and cut into butts, bellies and shoulders; the butts are vegetable-tanned in wooden drums, stuffed with fish oil and tallow, split, set and buffed into belting leather used for transmitting mechanical power.
Capacity: 30,000 (unit as printed in the profile); annual cost of production ₹77.96 L at full use.
§2Is it right for you?
Who it is for
Someone from a tanning cluster with access to a common effluent treatment plant.
Who it is not for
Anyone outside an approved tannery area.
Advantages
- Traditional, well-known process
- Steady industrial demand for strong leather
- Uses by-product hides from the meat trade
- Large turnover for the investment
Drawbacks
- Tanning is a red-category polluting industry; effluent treatment is required
- Raw hides are most of the cost
- Smell and waste make siting difficult
- Synthetic belts have replaced leather in many machines
Skills you need
- Hide selection and tanning
- Effluent handling
- Leather grading
- Selling to industrial buyers
Why difficulty 4/5: Known process, but pollution rules and hide prices make it hard.
§3Market
Who buys
- Industries using leather power-transmission belts
- Leather-goods makers needing heavy leather
How it sells
- Direct supply to industrial buyers
- Leather traders
Good to know
- The profile describes belting leather as having high tensile strength and friction resistance.
§4Raw material & machinery
| Item | Qty | Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Deliming paddles | — | — |
| Wooden drums (tanning and stuffing) | — | — |
| Fleshing machine | 1 | — |
| Band-knife splitting machine | 1 | — |
| Jack setting machine | 1 | — |
| Toggle board and parallel straps | — | — |
| Buffing machine | 1 | — |
| Full equipment set | — | ₹12.00 lakh |
From: KVIC Project Profile — Belting Leather (PMEGP)
- Wet-salted buffalo hidesmain raw material; ₹63.00 L raw material a year at full use
- Sodium sulphide, hypo, lime, caustic sodafor liming and unhairing
- Vegetable tanning materials, fish oil and tallowfor tanning and stuffing
From: KVIC Project Profile — Belting Leather (PMEGP)
In our raw material database
§5Licences & registration
- Pollution control board consent (tanneries are red category) and link to a CETP
- Udyam
- GST
- Factory licence
- Trade licence
§6Schemes & subsidies
- PMEGPCentralActive15–35% subsidy
- CGTMSECentralActiveNo collateral, up to ₹10 crore
- MudraCentralActiveLoan up to ₹20 lakh, no collateral
The KVIC profile is a PMEGP model; CGTMSE and MUDRA can cover part of the loan.
§7Money
How the investment is worked out: KVIC profile: equipment ₹12.00 L (deliming paddles, wooden drums, stuffing drums, fleshing machine, band-knife splitting machine, jack setting machine, toggle board, parallel straps, buffing machine, tools), working capital ₹11.00 L = ₹23.00 L. Workshed on rent.
Working capital: Working capital ₹11.00 L — hides and tanning materials; requirement per cycle ₹12,99,333.
Year not printed on the KVIC profile — check current machinery and hide prices.
§8Export potential
Confirm the HS code in the DGFT ITC(HS) lookup before you export
Export council / board: Council for Leather Exports (CLE)
- Export buyers ask for proof of effluent compliance.
§9Risks — where people fail
- Pollution-board action
- Hide price and supply
- Falling demand for leather belting
- Worker health
§1030 / 60 / 90-day plan
A general plan that applies to any business. A plan for this business will be added after research.
- Days 1–30: Visit a working belting leather tanning unit unit, ask 10 buyers about price and quantity, and get quotations from 3 suppliers.
- Days 31–60: Udyam and the licences you need (Pollution control board consent (tanneries are red category) and link to a CETP, Udyam), a project report (DPR), and the scheme or loan file.
- Days 61–90: Space and machines, trial production, and first deliveries to 10 customers.
§11Who to connect with
Associations, clusters and training institutes — the directory is being built. Connect
§12Watch
There is no episode on this business yet. Shows are coming soon on the Podcast page.
Want to start Belting Leather Tanning Unit?
DPR, loan file or registration — ask us on WhatsApp.
¶Sources
Data review: 6 October 2026. Spotted a mistake? Report it. For information only — not legal or financial advice.