Taiwanese manufacturer of Nike, Adidas, New Balance to invest $281 million in Indian facility

Pou Chen, the Taiwanese footwear maker for brands like Nike, Adidas, New Balance, and Timberland will invest $280.86 million in a manufacturing facility in Tamil Nadu, India.

Pou Chen is the world’s largest maker of branded sports footwear having manufactured and shipped over 272 million pairs of shoes in the financial year 2022 globally, up nearly 14 percent from a year earlier.

It already has plants in Bangladesh, Cambodia, Myanmar, and Vietnam.

The investment would create about 20,000 jobs in Tamil Nadu over 12 years.

Tamil Nadu manufactured 45 percent of India’s footwear exports over the last five years.

Brands such as Giorgio Armani and Gucci manufacture their products or source raw materials from Tamil Nadu.

Apple suppliers Foxconn, Salcomp, and Pegatron have also been ramping up their production in Tamil Nadu.

Meanwhile, Pou Chen will cut around 6,000 jobs at its Ho Chi Minh City plant in Vietnam due to low demand.