With sectors such as automobile, construction, engineering and mining focussing more on the safety of their workforce, Liberty Shoes sees the demand for safety shoes gaining traction.

“We have developed safety shoes which are priced less than Rs 800 for a pair. Companies with have large temporary workforce want to procure shoes that are easy on their budget and also provide the necessary safety element,” Adesh Gupta, CEO, Liberty Shoes Ltd, said. The company said the price of its Fighter range has been set keeping such companies in mind.

The premium range, Warrior, is priced over Rs 1,000 a pair and is sold through the institutional channels (B2B sales). Liberty said its institutional business accounts for about 20 per cent of its total revenue of Rs 400 crore.

Asked whether the slowdown had affected demand for safety shoes, Gupta replied in the negative.

The company said it currently manufactured about 50,000 pairs a day at it facility in Uttarakhand. “We hope to take this to 60,000 pairs as soon as there is significant demand from defence, mining, petroleum and construction,” he said.

Asked if it still supplies to Walmart, Gupta said currently the company did not have a vendor agreement with the global retail major.

Liberty Shoes said it had sold over 31 lakh pairs in the first quarter itself, notching up sales revenue of Rs 105 crore.

Another player Bata also buys industrial safety footwear. Gupta claimed that the company had 20 per cent share in the organised safety footwear category. The niche footwear category has a large unorganised portfolio.

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