He was raised in a middle-class household and had no family business. Due to financial difficulties, he began working early in life and progressively picked up business abilities.
Global powerhouses like Nike, Adidas, and Puma face fierce competition from Campus Activewear, one of India’s biggest shoe manufacturers. Founded by Hari Krishna Agarwal, an entrepreneur from Delhi, the company has expanded quickly, now boasting over 20,000 retail locations and 35 unique boutiques nationwide.
It exports shoes to other nations and runs five plants in India, selling 15 million pairs a year. The brand is promoted by celebrities such as Varun Dhawan and Sachin Tendulkar.
Hari Krishna Agarwal’s path is motivational. He was raised in a middle-class household and had no family business. He began working at an early age due to financial difficulties and progressively acquired business abilities. He started dabbling with tiny enterprises when he was eighteen, and in 1983, with no outside capital and with the help of friends and family, he started selling sports shoes under the “Action” brand.
When India opened its market to international companies in 1991, Adidas, Nike, and Puma joined the Indian market, yet the majority of Indians could not afford their shoes. Agarwal established Campus Shoes in 2005 after recognizing this need and concentrating on producing reasonably priced, premium athletic footwear. The business soon turned a profit thanks to his successful strategy.
Campus now holds a 48% market share in shoes priced under Rs 1,000. It has entered the premium market as well. The shares of Campus Activewear reportedly listed at a 23% premium over the IPO price when the company went public in May 2022. This greatly increased Agarwal’s wealth; according to Forbes, he is worth $1.1 billion. The corporation began expanding abroad in 2023, initially in Malaysia and Indonesia. The company is currently run by his son, industrial engineer Nikhil Agarwal, who serves as CEO.
