According to Ministry of Food

Processing Industries and

Council for Leather Export, the
value of leather export from
India-which is one of the largest
leather manufactures in the world
-is 10 times greater than the value of
its meat export.
Turning skin into leather also
requires massive amounts of
energy and dangerous chemicals,
including mineral salts,
formaldehyde, coal-tar derivatives,
and various oils, dyes, and
finishes, some of them cyanide-based
which harms the
environment.
Source- PETA