The Chief Minister's Office of Tamil Nadu announced on Friday, 10 July 2026 that Chief Minister Joseph Vijay virtually laid the foundation stone for a second-phase non-leather footwear manufacturing facility in Karur district, to be set up by Evervan Kothari Footwear Private Limited for global sportswear giant Adidas.

The project entails an investment of Rs 850 crore and is projected to generate employment for 6,750 persons. The foundation stone was laid by CM Vijay via video conferencing, continuing a practice the Tamil Nadu government has adopted for accelerating project approvals and ceremonial launches across districts.

Context

The Tamil Nadu CMO's post, originally in Tamil, states: 'Honourable Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Mr. Joseph Vijay laid the foundation stone via video conferencing for Evervan Kothari Footwear Private Limited to set up a second-phase non-leather footwear manufacturing plant in Karur district for Adidas, with an investment of Rs 850 crore, creating employment opportunities for 6,750 persons.'

Karur, located in western Tamil Nadu, has traditionally been associated with textiles and handloom manufacturing. The entry of a global footwear supply-chain project of this scale marks a diversification of the district's industrial base.

Policy Backdrop

Tamil Nadu has steadily positioned itself as a preferred destination for global footwear and apparel brands seeking cost-competitive, diversified production bases. Successive state industrial policies since the early 2010s have targeted manufacturing investments and employment generation through investor summits and single-window clearances.

The emphasis on non-leather footwear is significant: it aligns with an industry-wide shift toward synthetic and sustainable materials driven by environmental regulations and export-market compliance requirements, particularly in Europe — Adidas's primary market. Germany-headquartered Adidas is among the world's largest sportswear corporations, with an extensive global supply chain spanning Asia.

Stakeholders and Impact

The most direct beneficiaries are the 6,750 prospective workers in and around Karur, a district where large-scale formal manufacturing employment has historically been concentrated in the textile sector. Ancillary industries — raw material suppliers, logistics, packaging — stand to gain from the facility's downstream demand.

For Adidas, the plant represents an expansion of its India-based sourcing footprint at a time when global brands are actively diversifying supply chains away from single-country dependence. Evervan Kothari Footwear Private Limited, the Indian manufacturing partner executing the project, anchors the investment on the ground.

What's Next

Attention will now turn to the phased construction and commissioning timeline for the Karur plant, along with the rollout of recruitment drives to meet the stated target of 6,750 jobs. Analysts and local stakeholders will watch whether additional policy incentives — land, power tariffs, or skill-development linkages — are announced for the footwear cluster in the coming months.

The project also sets a precedent for Karur's industrial trajectory: if the second phase scales successfully, it could attract further investment into the district's emerging non-textile manufacturing corridor.