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Pidilite Industries has partnered with South Korea’s Hwaseung Chemical to bring advanced footwear adhesives to India.
The adhesive systems are already used in the production of global sports footwear and include products approved by leading international brands.
The deal: Hwaseung will bring its adhesive formulas and technology, while Pidilite will provide the local technical support needed by Indian factories.
Basically, Hwaseung brings the recipe, Pidilite helps Indian factories use it.
The why: think about your running shoes. The sole needs to stay firmly attached while you walk, run and bend it thousands of times.
So footwear manufacturers need adhesives that are strong but flexible, work consistently when thousands of shoes are being produced every day, and meet the quality requirements of global brands.
The products being brought to India are also low-VOC and non-flammable and comply with several international environmental and safety standards.
Zoom out: India is already the world’s second-largest footwear producer. It produced around 3 billion pairs in 2025, or 12.2% of global production, according to the World Footwear Yearbook 2026. China remains far ahead with 55.6%.
Global brands are also increasing local sourcing. For example, Asics raised the share of its products manufactured locally in India from 30% to 40% in 2025.
That is the opportunity Pidilite and Hwaseung are targeting.
Big theme: for Pidilite, the partnership gives it access to specialised technology used in large-scale sports footwear manufacturing, while its existing presence in India provides the local support needed to take that technology to manufacturers.
So as India tries to become a bigger manufacturing base for global footwear brands, Pidilite wants to make sure the shoes being made here are also being stuck together with its solutions.
There is one thing worth watching, though: raw-material costs. Pidilite has separately flagged elevated crude oil prices as a near-term risk because several chemicals used in adhesives are linked to petrochemical inputs. If those costs stay elevated, the economics of making adhesives could become tougher.
