East India Leather

East India Leather, often called E.I. leather, is a distinctive vegetable-tanned leather produced in Tamil Nadu's historic tanning belt around Vaniyambadi, Ambur, Ranipet and Dindigul. It is made by tanning hides and skins with natural plant extracts such as wattle and myrobalan rather than chemicals, giving a firm, mellow, naturally coloured leather that ages well. The industry grew from the colonial era when tanned skins were shipped to Europe from India's eastern seaboard, earning the name by which the finish is still known in the world leather trade. Prized for shoe uppers, linings and fine leather goods, E.I. leather built Tamil Nadu into one of India's leading leather-exporting regions. The craft supports a very large workforce of tanners and allied trades and remains central to the economy of the northern Tamil Nadu leather cluster.