Top 5 Indian Footwear Brands

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From soles to souls, footwear contribute a great deal to our experience. We are always excited to purchase new styles of footwear as early as we can get it. What we wear on our feet is equally important for us like the clothes we adorn in the Indian context. Not only clothes, but, footwear is also seen as a status symbol. India is the second-largest global producer of footwear after China accounting for 13% of global footwear production of 16 billion pairs.

In India, the Agra shoe industry is one of the largest leather-footwear clusters with Central Footwear Training Institute and MSME DI Agra as the major stakeholders in the Agra footwear cluster. India is the third-largest footwear consuming country after China and the USA. Now let us have a look at the top magnates of the Indian footwear industry. 

1. Lakhani

I'm sure you all must have heard this popular footwear brand’s name. This brand was found in 1966 by Parmeshwar Dayal Lakhani. It is a very common footwear brand across the homes of India. Not only they make footwear for Indians, but they also export out of the country as well. However, this company also faced a twist after MNCs related to footwear started coming into the country. Those big brands brought along with them the new technology including machines and other products. Lakhani, on the other hand, followed a practice of in-house manufacturing that didn’t meet the demand-supply chain. To solve this problem, Mayank Lakhani brought 90% outsourced manufacturing which major brands followed. This again improved their position taking the turnover to 100 crores. 

2. Woodland

Woodland, a highly sought-after brand for lakhs of people has Indian roots. Avatar Singh founded the Aero group in Quebec, Canada in the 1980s which is the parent company of Woodland. At that time, the company manufactured winter boots for Canada and Russia. Its business was sailing smoothly until the 1990s when the disintegration of the Soviet Union took place. Major manufacturing of Woodland products is done in Noida, India. The leather is sourced from Jalandhar, Punjab. The company has a turnover of Rs 1250 crore. 

3. Red Chief

Red Chief is a very popular footwear brand amongst Indians. Manoj Gyanchandani is the founder of Red Chief. In 1995, he set up Leayan Global Private Limited to export leather shoes to Europe. Wrapping up the export business, he studied the Indian market and launched Red Chief brand under the parent company Leayan Global Private Limited in 1997. Today, Red Chief has 175v stores located across 16 states including UP, MP, Gujarat, Rajasthan, etc. The company makes an annual turnover of over Rs 324 crore. 

4. Inc.5

Inc.5 is also one of the largest and successful brands of India. Almas Nanda, when she was just 24 years old in 1988 decided to start Inc.5 to provide women with stylish footwear along with comfort.People always prefer footwear which is trendy and at the same time provides comfort as well to the person. Today, Inc.5 is recording an annual turnover of Rs 163 crore. It is based in Delhi, Agra, Chennai, and Kanpur to manufacture its products. In 2001, Regal Shoes and Inc.5 merged to form Inc.5. 

5. Liberty Shoes

Liberty Shoes Limited is an Indian company based in Haryana. It was founded in 1954 by Dharam pal Gupta, Purshotam Das Gupta, and Rajkumar Bansal by the name of Pal Boot House. The company presently produces 50,000 pairs of footwear a day through its manufacturing units and has a presence in 25 countries. The company has avoided locations in conventional shoe manufacturing locations like Agra, Kanpur, Noida, etc. The turnover of the company accounts for Rs 600 crores from 2015. 

Most of you must have used footwear products of the above-mentioned brands. To read more about this topic, follow top Indian footwear brands.  These brands have a proportionate share of the footwear sector in India. India in terms of production is only after China. Hence, one can get an idea of the production of footwear in India. The major locations that ideally suit the production of footwear are Agra, Kanpur, Chennai, etc.

 This is due to the fact that these places have the availability of leather which is used to manufacture footwear. Kanpur is known as the Leather City of India. Hence, it is the best place for the production of leather footwear.  Whenever you think of purchasing any footwear, think not just about the brand name but, also of the quality and comfort. After all, it's all about supporting Indian businesses and supporting the cause of 'Aatmanirbhar Bharat'.

Written By - Vaibhav Sharma

Edited By - Kashish Chadha