Central Leather Research Institute, India was founded on 24 April, 1948. It was a land mark decision of the country born at the mid- night of 15th August 1947, to invest into leather research. In 1947, the export basket of India included mostly raw hides and skins. There remained an untapped opportunity for India in leather sector for economic development, employment generation and export earnings. The missing link was addition of technology to the manufacturing base of Indian leather sector. CLRI was founded to develop an internal strength in the country to generate, assimilate and innovate technologies for leather sector.