Comments
Pou Chen Corporation, the world’s largest contract manufacturer of branded athletic and casual footwear, is planning to set up a new manufacturing facility in Tamil Nadu.
According to sources, the Taiwan-based footwear giant is in advanced stages of finalising the location for the unit, which is likely to attract an investment of over ₹500 crore.
“It will be a mega project for sports shoe manufacturing,” the source told businessline.
Founded in 1969, Pou Chen Group currently has manufacturing units and retailing sites in Taiwan, China, Indonesia, Vietnam, the United States, and Mexico. It caters to Nike, Adidas, Puma and several other global brands.
According to RoC filings in Chennai, the company has registered a subsidiary ‘High Glory Footwear India Private Limited’ in December 2022. businessline reached out to the Pou Chen Group to understand the footwear major’s plans but did not receive any response.
It is learnt that Pou Chen is looking for a 300-400 acre site to set up the manufacturing plant. The State government has pitched Tiruchii, Viluppuram and the port city of Thoothukudi as some of the possible locations.
The development comes close on the heels of the visit of a State government delegation to Taiwan in October. The delegation met with electronics manufacturer Foxconn, Pegatron, Taiwan Electrical and Electronic Manufacturers’ Association (TEEMA), and the Taiwan Footwear Manufacturers Association (TFMA) to woo investments to Tamil Nadu.
In August, the Tamil Nadu government also launched Footwear & Leather Products Policy 2022 with a vision to make the State a favoured destination for footwear and leather products manufacture in Asia. The State aims to attract ₹20,000 crore investments in footwear and leather products manufacture.
The Pou Chen investment will further cement Tamil Nadu’s position as a footwear manufacturing hub. The State already hosts other Taiwanese footwear giants like Feng Tay and Hong Fu. While the Feng Tay Group set up its first facility in Tamil Nadu in 2006, the Hong Fu Group signed an MoU with the Tamil Nadu government in April 2022 to set up a footwear manufacturing unit at an investment of ₹1,000 crore, with potential to generate 20,000 jobs.
Comments
COMMENT NOW
Comments
Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.
We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of TheHindu Businessline and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.