Kolkata, Jan 11
Ajanta Shoes, the Kolkata-based 66-year old footwear brand, is looking at close to 32 per cent growth in turnover at ₹500 crore by the end of the current fiscal, against ₹380 crore in FY-22.
Impakto brand
The company, which launched its AI inspired smart shoes under the Impakto brand, is expecting to garner a good demand both from domestic and international markets.
According to Sagnik Banik, Managing Director, Ajanta Shoes, Impakto primarily has shoes meant for sports and athleisure category and the segment accounted for around 13 per cent of the company’s total turnover last year. With the demand for sports and athleisure as a category growing, it expects the share of Impakto to grow moving forward.
“Impakto brought in revenues close to ₹50 crore last year and this year we are hopeful of touching close to ₹65-70 crore. There is a huge demand for sports shoes both in domestic and international markets and we expect our smart shoes – Impakto Navigator – to be a disruptor in the market,” Banik said on Wednesday.
Footwear market
From 2022 to 2027, the Indian footwear market is anticipated to expand at a CAGR of around 7 per cent and the company is strategically positioned to capitalize on the expanding footwear market through their aggressive expansion drive across the country. The company has a production capacity of close to 5.9 million pairs per month across its three manufacturing units in West Bengal.
The company currently has 1,000 dealers and 20,000 retailers across the country. Ajanta Footcare, the sister concern of Ajanta Shoes, was started in 2003 and has 120 company-owned showrooms spread over Bengal, Bihar, Jharkhand, Northeast and Odisha.
Ajanta Shoes, which has a strong presence in the eastern markets including West Bengal, Bihar, Jharkhand, Northeast and Odisha, has also forayed into the northern markets of UP, MP, Punjab and Haryana. It is also looking to foray into southern markets of Telangana and Karnataka moving forward. Eastern region currently accounts for nearly 45 per cent of its total turnover while the remaining 55 per cent comes from other parts of the country.
Additionally, Ajanta exports to the GCC, Africa and Australia andit accounts for nearly 10-12 per cent of its total turnover.