Footwear technology is an integral part of the leather industry. Over the years, footwear manufacturing has been constantly growing and gaining popularity across the fashion world. The course, B.Tech in Footwear Technology aims at providing students strong capability for comprehensive knowledge of science and machines in this field.
All-inclusive knowledge is important for aspirants to work as managers and supervisors to handle advanced technologies involved in the footwear sector. During the course, students will learn how footwear is manufactured from different types of raw materials such as leather, plastic, canvas, jute, rubber and cloth.
With increasing demand and choice of footwear, various footwear companies have to deal with increased production to maintain consistent supply. Therefore, they require various skilled professionals in the field to handle all the processes during the manufacturing phase. Candidates by doing B.Tech in Footwear Technology can easily make their future very bright in this field.
Students with skills like designing, business management and imaginative thinking are ideal for this industry.
There are a number of career options in the field of designing, marketing, and manufacturing of footwear. Candidates with B.Tech in Footwear Technology can join specialist sportswear companies, footwear companies, as well as, designer labels at both senior and junior levels.
However, candidates must have a good physical stamina to work long hours and meet deadlines. This is because in the footwear industry lot of manpower is involved. Moreover, students should possess good supervisory and managerial skills to lead their team positively.
B.Tech in Footwear Technology is a 4-year undergraduate course. It is further divided into 8 semesters with each semester lasting a period of 6 months. After the 2nd semester, subjects tend to focus more on new techniques used in the designing of footwear of new brands. Distance courses of 4 years are also available.
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Name of the course |
B.Tech in Footwear Technology |
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Duration |
4 years |
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Average course fee |
INR 5 Lakhs to 6 Lakhs |
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Stream |
Engineering |
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Sectors of employment |
Butterfly leather, Khadims, Bata, KAR group, Arkay Leather Pvt Ltd, Leather Hunt Pvt Ltd, Paryag international, Marson Leather house |
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Top entrance exams (if available) |
The scheme of assessment of this course consists of marks in theory and practical exam.
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Scheme of Assessment |
Weightage (%) |
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Theory |
75 |
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Practical |
25 |
Besides the theoretical and practical learning, students have to undergo the industrial training in the 8th semester. The training in the industry is based on their B.Tech course to provide them with some industrial exposure. This will help them to work easily in any environment soon after the completion of their 4-year B.Tech in Footwear Technology. Marks of this semester will be included in the finals - as students have to submit a project report at the end of the industrial training in the college.
Some engineering colleges in India also offer direct admission in the second year to the students who are holding a diploma in the same stream. Some colleges conduct an entrance exam for diploma students for their admission directly in the second year of the B.Tech in Footwear Technology. Such lateral entry for the diploma holder’s students will be in the third semester. Students with minimum 60% marks in the diploma are eligible to take admissions in the B.Tech course.
Following are the institutes, which offer lateral entry.
There are a large number of the institutes in India that offer footwear technology course. Following are some of the top institutes in India that provide opportunities for the students to gain knowledge in footwear technology.
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S.No |
College/Institute |
City |
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1 |
Noida |
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2 |
Chandigarh |
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3 |
Agra |
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4 |
Department of Industrial Training & Vocational Education |
Haryana |
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5 |
Anna University |
Chennai |
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6 |
Chennai |
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7 |
Chennai |
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8 |
Chennai |
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9 |
Kolkata |
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10 |
Jalandhar |
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11 |
Kanpur |
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12 |
Institute of Government Leather Working School |
Mumbai |
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13 |
Muzaffarpur |
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14 |
New Delhi |
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15 |
Vaniyambadi |
Designing, marketing and manufacturing are some of the areas where B.Tech holders in footwear technology can look forward to excelling in their career. Using new technology and machinery, footwear engineers can manufacture new styles of footwear.
Students of footwear technology also have good career prospects with different footwear companies and designers labels as a specialist at executive levels. They can even set their own business or work as footwear line builder, footwear trade analyst, cost analyst, senior production co-coordinator or production manager in any footwear company.
Here are some of the important designations/job profiles in footwear industries.
|
Designation/Job Profile |
Description |
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Footwear designers |
Footwear designers have to research on design ideas, use computer aided design software and graphic packages to create new designs. They also have to send technical instructions to the manufacturers for producing the final product. |
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Production Manager |
Production manager has to monitor day-to-day production activities and even manage production cost. Moreover, a production manager has to check the final product after production whether it matches with the specifications provided by the vendors. |
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Footwear trade analyst |
The footwear trade analyst researches market conditions of the product in local, regional, or national areas. He/ She has to do a marketing campaign to determine the potential of the sale or service of the product. Plus, they have to check their competitor’s information regarding prices, sales, and methods of marketing and distribution. |
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Footwear line builder |
Footwear line builder is responsible for researching the market place for a new product. The person at this position has to keep a check on technical sketches and specifications involved with the product development section and marketing aspects of a footwear company. |
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Footwear technician |
Footwear technician supports the production teams to ensure product specification sheets. Footwear technician has to ensure the quality standards and technical design requirements of the final products. |
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Designation |
Annual Salary |
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Footwear Designer |
Rs. 3.2 lakhs to 8.5 lakhs |
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Footwear Technician |
Rs. 6.6 lakhs to 8 lakhs |
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Production Manager |
Up to Rs. 15.7 lakhs |
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Footwear Trader Analyst |
Rs. 3.5 lakhs to 8 lakhs |
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Qualification |
Minimum Eligibility to Apply |
Additional Details |
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12th Pass |
60% |
Mandatory Subjects: Chemistry, Physics, Mathematics Candidate should have scored minimum CGPA of 6.0 out of 10 in Mathematics. Students who have not appeared in JEE Mains may also apply. |
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JEE |
Not necessary |
- |
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Age |
Maximum 21-year-old candidate |
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Other eligibility |
The age limit can be relaxed by 3 years for SC/ST candidates |
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For admission in B.Tech in Footwear Technology, students have to pass the entrance exams conducted by the various universities. Students after clearing the entrance exam have to go through the process of counselling conducted by the universities. According to the score in the entrance exam, students will get the admission in the respective field.
In the entrance exam, the question paper is set from the subjects of Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics. There are three sections in the exam and each section consists of 30 questions. Total 90 questions are there in the entrance exam paper. For each correct answer, 4 marks are given to a candidate.
For the admissions in B.Tech in Footwear Technology, various national level and state level tests are also conducted. Even some of the private institutes conduct entrance tests for taking admission.
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Exam Name |
Level/Conducted By |
Colleges |
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JEE Main |
National level/CBSE |
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JEE Advanced |
National/IITs |
IITs |
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SRMJEEE |
National/SRM University |
SRM University all campuses |
The selection is generally made based on Class 12th, Class 11th and Class 10th marks, ranking in the JEE or equivalent exam. The performance in academics and extracurricular activities is also considered in the personal interview.
Applicants with a minimum percentage of 60% aggregate marks in Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics in Class Class 12th and JEE score will be eligible for admission to the B.Tech in Footwear Technology.
Class 10th - 5%
Class 12th - 60%
JEE Mains - 15%
Personal Interview - 20%
Direct Admission
Some of the engineering institutes offer direct admission based on the merit in the Class 12th exams or equivalent exams. Some private colleges also offer direct admission in the B.Tech on management seats. However, the fee structure of the management quota seats is higher than the normal admissions.
Footwear and allied industries are growing at a rate of more than 25% per annum. Furthermore, the growing retail sector in India with footwear and leather, holding a premium share in the segment, offers a lucrative career opportunity for the techno-management professionals. The B.Tech in Footwear Technology allows students to gain detailed knowledge in the specific field and to decide which particular area in the industry they would like to join.
Due to the structured blending of the technical training, there are various specialisation areas to choose from - such as Production, Marketing, Designing, Merchandising and Retail Management.
To get into the retail, production, designing or other areas in the industry, a B.Tech holder has to further complete the Master’s degree in any of the given fields:
MSc. Footwear Design & Production
MSc. Creative Design & CAD/CAM
Both are two-year post-graduation courses to help students specialise in specific fields. With any of these Master’s degrees, students may achieve their career prospect in specific fields with more knowledge of required technicalities. There are various career opportunities in the field of Production and Planning, Designing, Footwear Fashion/Styling, CAD/CAM Specialist, Marketing, Merchandising, Buying, Costing, Quality Management, Shop Floor Operations and in the Back end of Footwear Retailing sector in both India and abroad.
Another specialisation in B.Tech in Footwear Technology is Footwear Design & Production Management. This is a two-year programme, which focuses on building techno-management professionals equipped with right skill and knowledge to serve various domain of the footwear industry such as footwear retailing and allied industries globally.
The unique structured course blends high-end technical knowledge and skills to train better professionals in management field. The application based managerial specialisations are in different areas in the industry, including Production, Marketing, Design, Merchandising and Retail Management. Students with better organisation and management skills must opt for this course.