The MOUs were signed at the Vettri Tamil Nadu Investment Conclave presided over by Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay .
Phoenix Kothari Footwear will invest Rs 1,000 crore for non-leather footwear manufacturing in Ramanathapuram. It will create 10,000 jobs.
Kothari Industrial IUAD Design Private Ltd. will invest Rs 50 crore to create India’s first Italian industry-integrated design university at Krishnagiri, combining European design education with Tamil Nadu’s industrial strengths. The project will create 250 jobs.
“And for a district like Ramanathapuram, which is receiving its first industrial investment today, it means that a young person will not have to leave home to find opportunity. That is what economic growth looks like when you zoom in,” Tamil Nadu Minister for Industries, Investment Promotion & Commerce S. Keerthana said in her key note address at the conclave.
The Minister also mentioned about Evervan Kothari Footwear project at Karur, which manufactures Adidas shoes.
“Chief Minister himself laid the foundation stone for the second phase of the Evervan Kothari project in Karur,” she said.
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Jinnah Rafiq Ahmed, Executive Chairman, KICL, termed the MOU to set up manufacturing in Ramanathapuram as “historic”.
Kamaraj & CM Vijay
He recalled an old story of how former Chief Minister K. Kamaraj was instrumental in bringing a factory of Kothari in Ennore. During a lunch meeting, Kamaraj had requested D.C. Kothari to set up factory in Ennore to create jobs in the region, Rafiq Ahmed recalled.
“After Chief Minister Vijay laid the foundation stone for the Phase II of the manufacturing facility of Evervan Kothari Footwear, I got a call from his Office stating that he wanted to bring a factory in the most backward district in Ramanathapuram,” Rafiq Ahmed said.
“So, we decided to go with our Chief Minister, and we have signed an MOU for Rs 1,000 crore investment, which will create lot of employment and value,” Rafiq Ahmed said.
On the second MOU, he said that no international design school had come so far into India. “So, we are very happy and proud to say that we are bringing in Italy’s IUAD. Tamil Nadu government has given us premises for lease for 45 years and it is very good infrastructure,” Rafiq Ahmed said.
“Maharashtra is fashion capital for the country. But after having IUAD, Tamil Nadu will become fashion capital in India,” he added.