City-based Farida group is planning to make a foray into Bangladesh market, said a top official. “We have started the spade work and the factory should be ready in Bangladesh by March 2019,” said Rafeeque M. Ahmed, chairman, Farida group. “Our goal is to become a global player,” he added.
The new factory, coming up in Dhaka, will be spread over 1,00,000 sq.ft. The facility would produce 3,000 pairs of shoes a day.
“Bangladesh is a least developed country and has zero tariff for four years. Also, putting up a new factory is economical due to availability of manpower with low labour cost. Global players are asking us whether international brands can be produced and exported at competitive rates,” he said.
The group, which boasts of an export turnover of ₹1,600 crore, has presence in 17 countries, including Germany, England, South Asia, China, Japan, South Africa and Malaysia.
“In China and Japan, we have marketing and sales offices. Very soon, we will be entering Korea too,” he said.
The ₹1,700-crore group, the makers of international brands such as Clarks, Rock Port, Hush Puppies and Florsheim, has six shoemaking factories in Ambur in Tamil Nadu, two in Chennai and one in West Bengal.It has two tanneries in Ambur and one in Ethiopia. The Indian factories produces over 30,000 pairs of shoes per day. Nearly 95% of its production is exported.
“Going forward, we are planning to come out with semi-sport shoes in non-leather segment,” he said.
