₹12,100 crore to be invested in TN’s non-leather footwear sector in 2-4 years

K Murali, Director of Central Footwear Training Institute (CFTI), Ministry of MSME
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In the next 2-4 years, a sum of ₹12,100 crore will be invested in the non-leather footwear sector in Tamil Nadu. This will generate 1.35 lakh employees in the shop floor and another 3,000 in the management cadre said K Murali, Director of Central Footwear Training Institute (CFTI), Ministry of MSME. All the overseas investment in this sector is from Taiwanese companies, he added.

The highest investment is ₹2,890 crore from JR One Footwear (Kothari Evervan), a joint venture between Phoenix Kothari and Shoe Town Footwear to manufacture Crocs footwear. The factory in Perambalur has commenced production and construction of the phase II of the factory is in progress. Once fully operational, the unit will employ 29,000 people, he said.

Taiwan’s Hong Fu Industrial Group will invest ₹2,500 crore in a factory in Panapakkam, Ranipet for manufacturing Nike, Pume and Converse shoes. Construction is in progress and the manufacturing is scheduled to commence in April 2026. Once fully operations, the unit will employ 42,000 persons, he said.

Similarly, another Taiwan company, High Glory will invest ₹2,300 crore in a factory in Ulundurpet to manufacture Nike, Adidas, Asics, New Balance, Tiberland and Solomon shoes. The unit is expected to commence operations in December and likely to employ around 20,000 persons, he said.

Murali said institute has so far trained over 2.25 lakh candidates, including 150 foreign nationals and placed them with some of these companies.

Published on July 23, 2025