The US$24-billion Aditya Birla Group has declared plans to set up a 1,000-store retail network, minus any JV partnership. The expected investment outlay is Rs 9,000 crore over three years.
Group Chairman Kumar Mangalam Birla said the stores will include large hypermarkets of around 75,000 square feet and supermarkets of 10,000 square feet. The first store is being opened in Pune this June and will be positioned as a value-for-money outlet.
“The Indian shopping environment is underdeveloped due to the lack of economically viable real estate, a developed supply chain, trained manpower and backward linkages of suppliers. We will offer consumers more than what they expect. Hence, the brand,” Birla said.
In January this year, the company had acquired 170 stores of retail chain Trinethra Super Retail. These will be rebranded as More. Going forward, the company will look at acquiring smaller retailers to gain share in the organised retail market.
Products at the outlets will be a mix of private labels and brands. “The basic private label will be called More and the medium range, Select,” said Aditya Birla Retail CEO Sumant Sinha. The company will employ between 10,000 and 15,000 employees over five years.
Aditya Birla Group is a dominant player in various sectors including viscose staple fibre, metals, cement, viscose filament yarn, branded apparel, carbon black, chemicals, fertilisers, insulators, financial services, telecom, BPO and IT services. Last year, the company had appointed global consulting firm McKinsey & Co. to chalk out plans for its retail rollout.
