Liberty Shoes to invest Rs 160 cr for 3 units

Liberty Shoes ltd will set up three new manufacturing units to double production capacity to 100,000 pairs of footwear per day in the next three years, and is planning to invest Rs 160 crore (Rs 1.6 billion) for the expansion plan.

"We are coming up with three plants in 2006-07. We are increasing our capacity from 50,000 pairs per day at present to 75,000 pairs within a year, and to 100,000 pairs in three years," Adesh Gupta, CEO of Liberty Shoes, said on Monday.

While one unit would be at Roorkee in Uttaranchal, two units would be located at Ponta Sahib in Himachal Pradesh.

The company would invest Rs 50 crore (Rs 500 million) for the Roorkee plant for manufacturing leather footwear, and Rs 30 crore (Rs 300 million) for the two units at Ponta Sahib for non-leather shoes, Gupta added.

The company would invest Rs 80 crore (Rs 800 million) by 2008 for further expansion, he said adding funds would be sourced through internal accruals and bank loans in 1:1 ratio.

Gupta said the company was looking to increase its presence in the US through its tie-up with Wal-Mart, the world's largest retailer, and termed it as one of the reason for ramping up capacity.

"We had tied-up with Wal-Mart a year ago, and our footwears are on display on trial basis in 35 of their stores," Gupta said, adding the company would be supplying more to the retail giant from the next financial year.

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