Sata, a leader in the local footwear market for the last several decades, has also lost its market share to some extent. In Ambala itself, the number of shoe units have increased enhancing competition.

"There were four units manufacturing a range of PVC shoes when we started business here. At present, there are seven manufacturing units in the town," says Naresh Chhabra of Naresh Footwear Industry. The unit was established on Naraingarh Road at Ambala in 1970. The company, which specialises in PVC range, produces 1,800 pairs a day under the brand name of Microlone. "We started business with a capital investment of Rs 1.5 lakh. Now,our turnover is Rs 60 lakh per annum."

Due to intense competition among manufacturers, price has to be kept low. Often manufacturers are forced to use second quality PVC granules.

Says Chhabra, "We manufacture 30 different types of footwear. This gives us an edge over our competitors."

According to Chhabra, the Haryana government's decision to impose 10 per cent sales tax on footwear has affected their business adversely. "Had the government not lowered sales tax to 3 per cent, all the manufacturing units would have closed by now," says Chhabra suggesting that PVC footwear are usually purchased by poor class and the government should exempt it from sales tax.

Electricity rates have also been hiked resulting in an increase in the cost of footwear production. "We have tough competition with Delhi manufacturers and are unable to beat them on the price front," says Chhabra. "We have to purchase raw material from Delhi and freight is an extra burden on us. Moreover, we have to arrange skilled labour fromoutside which costs us too high."

In the synthetic footwear segment, too, competition is tough. There are three synthetic footwear manufacturers in Ambala having neck to neck competition among themselves.

Rajan Wadhawan of Sunny Enterprises, with his manufacturing unit on Ambala-Chandigarh Road, started manufacturing synthetic and sports shoes last year with a capital investment of Rs 12 lakh. He managed a turnover of about Rs 50 lakh. "We manufacture 1,000 pairs of shoes a day and have a marketing network in Haryana, Punjab and Madhya Pradesh," says Wadhawan. The company plans to increase production by 100 per cent this year and increase their range by introducing new designs.

With an experience in wholesale trading in footwear, Wadhawan sees no threat from other local manufacturers and is confident of success. "We have not availed of any financial aid from a bank or state financial corporation since we did not want to go through formalities."

Wadhawan feels Madhya Pradesh footwear market is betterin payment as compared to Uttar Pradesh. "This is the reason, we have discontinued supplies to Uttar Pradesh footwear wholesalers. We allow 15 days credit facility only to good customers."

Adds Wadhawan, "There are worries at every stage of production right from procuring raw material to actual production, marketing and finally collection of payment."

Drish has established their manufacturing unit at Nalagarh in Himachal Pradesh. "We process leather at our own tannery at Nalagarh and exercise a tight control on the purchase of raw material by involving expert opinion," claims Rana, director of Drish shoes.

Drish entered the domestic market in 1993. They have not compromised on the price tag mainly because for them focus has been quality. "We realise that a shoe should fit the foot comfortably. It cannot be the other way round where the foot has to adjust to shoes. We use 10 different kinds of moulds in shaping the shoes and train our labour in order to have a tight quality control." He feels shoesshould be comfortable like bed.

Rana produces around 3,200 pairs daily.

Drish is also into exports. "We have a presence in the European market. We are into technical collaboration with Manz Fortuna, a German company, which helps us in developing designs even for the domestic market."

In the world market, China commands a neat 70 per cent share followed by Brazil, Taiwan and Italy. Out of the total $50-billion world shoe market, India controls $1-billion share. "In the European market, we are facing tough competition from shoes made in China, Taiwan, South Korea, Poland and Yugoslavia."

Lotus Bawa is also an successful shoe manufacturing unit in Jalandhar having a wide variety of shoes. The Lotus is an English company in collaboration with the Bawas, who concentrated on manufacturing shoe uppers before they ventured into the full-fledged industry in footwear.

Liberty, another major brand, started small in 1954 by making shoe uppers. Says R K Bansal, managing director, Liberty Shoes Ltd, "We started asmall shoe store at Karnal in the name of Pal Foot House. Today, we have a family of more than 150 distributors, 300 exclusive showrooms and approximately 10,000 dealers, spread all over the country. At present, we are providing employment to more than 5,000 persons."

Claims Bansal, "I am proud to say that every eleventh pair of shoe being exported today from our country is a Liberty shoe and for the last two decades we are continuously getting the national award for exports."

Bansal regrets that the country is unable to attain more than 2 per cent share in the international market. "We are facing tough competition in the export business due to our high prices. The price at which we purchase raw leather, Chinese manufacturers manage to supply finished shoes."

Bansal suggests that the government should offer incentives to exporters enabling them to take interest in export business and earn foreign exchange. He further emphasis that the government should put a ban on export of leather which increasesprice in the domestic market.