South Korean firm to establish India's first footwear plant in TN, says govt

Chennai, Aug 23 (PTI) South Korea headquartered Hwaseung Footwear Group, with an investment of Rs 1,720 crore, has decided to set up its non-leather footwear manufacturing unit in Tamil Nadu, the first such facility for the group in the country, Minister for Industries TRB Rajaa said.

The factory to come up in Tuticorin is expected to generate 20,000 direct jobs in the region, he said.

"Our efforts to ensure the grounding of MoUs we signed at TN Rising Tuticorin are in full swing. Chief Minister M K Stalin today met senior executives of South Korea's Hwaseung Footwear Group at the Secretariat," Rajaa said.

"Hwaseung has committed an investment of Rs 1,720 crore to establish a large-scale non-leather footwear manufacturing facility, their first production base in India," he said in a social media post late on Friday.

Rajaa exuded confidence that the production plant, with the creation of 20,000 direct jobs in the region, would become one of the largest employment-generating footwear projects in Tamil Nadu.

"Many more Memoranda of Understanding will soon be converted to jobs for Tamil Nadu," he noted.

Aimed at an inclusive growth across the State, the Tamil Nadu government conducted its first region-specific maiden edition of TN Rising Investors Conclave in Tuticorin on August 4.

During this event, the government signed 41 MoUs with various companies, with commitments of investment to the tune of Rs 32,553.85 crore that are expected to generate 49,845 jobs in the State.

On August 20, Rajaa had commented that nearly 77 per cent of the MoUs that were signed with various multinationals since 2021 have been successfully realised into tangible projects. The value of investments committed by the companies in Tamil Nadu since 2021 is about Rs 10.32 lakh crore, he said. PTI VIJ VIJ ADB