The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), Coimbatore Zone, organised its Zonal Annual Day on Wednesday.
V Noushad, Managing Director of Walkaroo International Pvt Ltd, has been appointed as the Chairman of CII Coimbatore Zone for the year 2026-27. Mahalingam Ramasamy, Founder and Chairman of Arche Global, has been appointed as the Vice Chairman for the same period. Noushad heads Walkaroo International Pvt Ltd and has played a key role in driving the company’s growth and expansion.
He joined his family business, VKC Group, during his academic years and later diversified the Hawai footwear segment into various categories before consolidating them under brands such as VKC Pride, Stile and Lite. In 2012, he launched the Walkaroo brand with the aim of making fashionable footwear accessible to a wider audience.
Today, the Walkaroo Group operates 15 manufacturing units across seven states in India. Under his leadership, the company has adopted advanced manufacturing technologies while maintaining an inclusive work culture.
Noushad has received several recognitions including the Best Entrepreneur Award from the Industries Department of the Government of Kerala in 2004, Entrepreneur of the Year awards from TiEcon in 2014 and 2022, and CMA in 2018 and 2022. He also received the Outstanding Entrepreneur of the Year award from COSIDICI in 2014, Businessman of the Year from Dhanam Magazine in 2017, Malayalee of the Year from News18 in 2019, CII Southern Region Businessperson of the Year in 2022 and the Vocational Excellence Award from Rotary Club of Coimbatore in 2025.
He currently serves as the National President of the Confederation of Indian Footwear Industries, Chairman of the CII Task Force on Non-Leather Footwear, State Council Member of CII Tamil Nadu, Charter Member of TiE Kerala, Board of Governors Member of NIT Calicut and Research Council Member of the Central Leather Research Institute. He holds a B.Tech in Chemical Engineering from Government Engineering College, Thrissur and a Master’s degree in Polymer Science and Rubber Technology from Cochin University of Science and Technology.
Mahalingam Ramasamy is a technologist and entrepreneur with more than three decades of experience in digital infrastructure, cybersecurity and intelligent systems. As Founder and Chairman of Arche Global, he has led several large-scale digital infrastructure projects for airports, smart cities and national data centres.
He is also the co-founder of Yavar, an artificial intelligence startup focused on enterprise workflows and sustainability, and Xoog, a blockchain-based decentralised communication platform. Mahalingam earlier served as Chairman of Connect Coimbatore for three consecutive years from 2022 to 2024. He was also the Convenor of the ICT Panel of CII Coimbatore Zone during 2022-23, 2023-24 and 2024-25 and served as Convenor of the GCC Task Force for 2025-26.
