AUGUST 20258DECATHLON AIMS $3B SOURCING FROM INDIA, 3L JOBS BY 2030DEFENCE TESTING FACILITY IN TIRUCHIRAPPALLI GETS OFFICIAL NODInternational sports retailing giant Decathlon has released a significant ramp-up of its "Make in India" initiative, aiming for $3 billion in locally produced goods and creating more than 300,000 direct and indirect jobs by 2030. The company is making the announcement as it celebrates 25 years of manufacturing in India and looks to make a significant deepening of its manufacturing and retail presence in the country.In a major effort to boost the defence production sector of India, Ministry of Defence has formally entered an MoU with Tamil Nadu Industrial Development Corporation (TIDCO) in setting up a hi-tech defence testing facility in Tiruchirappalli.This relocation procedure is a part of the Defence Testing Infrastructure Scheme (DTIS), and it is a large step towards India currently supplies 8% of Decathlon's world production. With its new five-year strategy, the company wants to increase this to 15%, with a special emphasis on high-potential areas like footwear, fitness gear, and high-performance sports textiles. Over 70% of products retailed from the 132 Indian stores of Decathlon are presently sourced within the country--a number estimated to grow to 90% by the decade's end.Sankar Chatterjee, Decathlon India CEO, commented that local manufacturing had been responsible for the company's success. "Our journey of manufacture in India has brought us strong retail growth and enabled us to present an increasingly wide, Made in India range," he said.Decathlon has 113 production facilities through 83 suppliers and seven production bureaus, aided by a Design Centre that is innovation- and affordability-driven. India today has a significant presence in Decathlon's international supply chain, with entire categories such as Yoga and Cricket products being designed and produced locally for export purposes.The company also intends to have a retail presence in more than 90 Indian cities by 2030. Focused on local innovation and intelligent manufacturing, Decathlon considers India the hub of its global expansion strategy. helping de-hyphenate the industry of its reliance on distant labs in Chennai and Bengaluru.This defence test centre at Tiruchirappalli will specialise in high end of mechanical and materials testing, which is of defence and aerospace components. It is being installed under the public-private model in which the central government will front as much as 75 percent of the projects expenditure. The balance of 25 percent will be invested by a consortium which will include Micro Labs and other key players such as HAL, BEML, TIDCO and Vaidheswaran Industries.The facility has a 13,000 sq ft lab and has another 3,000 sq ft administrative space that is well positioned in the SIDCO Industrial Estate in Thuvakudi. It will serve more than 40 MSMEs and OEMs involved in defence manufacturing in the region which will reduce to a substantial extent the turnaround time on testing and certification.The centre is estimated to be in operation by December 2025, and is also estimated to generate 30-40 skilled jobs, benefiting the industrial ecosystem of the area, as well as creating part of the vision of the government to make India Aatmanirbhar. The facility will be a game-changer in the manufacturing business particularly in Trichy, where there is a strong presence of batteries, electronics, and fabrication manufacturing. TOP STORIESTOP STORIESTOP STORIES
< Page 7 | Page 9 >