Apache India to expand operations

Apache Footwear India Private Limited, an authorised shoe manufacturer for global footwear brand Adidas, proposes to expand its Indian operations by increasing the employee strength at its existing unit and setting up two more units – one in Kadapa district and another in north Uttaranchal.

The Chinese company currently has a manufacturing unit at Mambattu in Nellore district where it employs 5,000 people. It is planning to increase the employee strength of this unit to 8,500 as a part of its medium-term plan of stepping up its India operations backed by Adidas management.

The company’s decision to go ahead with its expansion plan, which includes setting up a development centre, an uppers stitching factory and a mould shop apart from two new units, comes in the wake of the representatives of Adidas management, who visited the manufacturing facility, expressing satisfaction over the production efficiency and product quality.

“Adidas’ top management has promised to provide full support to our India operations. Which means, Apache India will keep expanding more production lines and expects to offer 8,500 jobs till 2010,” Apache group president, Johnson Tsai, stated in a press release here on Monday. He, however, did not disclose the cost of the expansion plan.

According to the company’s spokesperson B Dasarath Reddy, Adidas is increasing its sourcing from Apache’s manufacturing unit in Nellore. The unit currently supplies Adidas 300,000 pairs of shoes a month, which is expected to go up to 500,000 by next year.

He said that the proposed Kadapa unit was solely meant for stitching shoe uppers, while the Uttaranchal factory would exclusively cater to the needs of the domestic market. Land for the Kadapa unit has already been acquired and it is expected to be commissioned in six months. It will have an employee strength of 1,500. The financial and other details of the Uttaranchal unit are yet to be finalised.

Based in southern China, Apache currently produces 12 million pairs of shoes a year.