Von Wellx, the German orthopedic shoe brand owned by Casa Everz, has inaugurated a new production site in Agra, in the Uttar Pradesh state in northern India, as it ceases the production of footwear in China.
The new factory in the Export Promotion Industrial Park (EPIP) in Agra features two production units. The facility is expected to produce about 2.5 million pairs of shoes per year and employ 2,000 people through a collaboration with Iatric Industries, an Indian company which previously produced Von Wellx shoes out of China. Von Wellx shoes are sold in over 80 countries, including India, where they have been available since 2019.
According to the Hindustan Times, by the end of this year, Von Wellx is set to open up a second factory near Jewar and a third facility close to Mathura, both located in Uttar Pradesh. In total, Von Wellx is expected to generate almost 10,000 local jobs from the new factories, where it plans to produce about 5 million pairs of shoes annually.
Alok Kumar, the Uttar Pradesh politician in charge of industrial development who inaugurated the Agra units, said Von Wellx will invest about 3,000 million rupees (€34.9m-$41.4m) for the three production sites. “It is an important milestone in the post Covid-19 era that an investment proposal has materialized within a short span of five months,” he said.
In the wake of the health crisis, Indian prime minister Narendra Modi in May unveiled a new ’Atmanirbhar Bharat’ (self-reliant) program aimed at increasing manufacturing investments in the country. Anand Mahindra, chairman of the Indian conglomerate Mahindra Group, on Twitter described the Von Wellx investment as a “huge opportunity” for India.
