Liberty plans highway inns, ceramics foray

Liberty group is planning to diversify its business portfolio to include new fields such as travel-related areas and ceramics.

Adarsh Gupta, executive director of Liberty group, said that the company planned to set up sophisticated highway inns and was also talking to oil companies such as IOC and BPCL for a strategic tie-up.

According to the contours of arrangement being discussed, IOC and BPCL would set up petrol pumps close to these inns to attract the highway crowd.

Over the next two years, Liberty is planning to establish at least four to six such inns. It has also plans to enter ceramics business, and would set up a manufacturing unit in Rajasthan.

The group has lined up an investment plan of Rs 50 crore, with Rs 20 crore in retail, Rs 15 crore in manufacturing and the balance in new businesses.

However, the group is also expanding its core business""footwear. It is also launching Revolutions""a chain of exclusive retail showrooms.

Revolutions is already present in Mumbai, Chennai and Hyderabad and opened its fourth store in Kolkata on Friday. The company planned to open 20 more outlets in various parts of the country besides one each in Singapore, Colombo, Dhaka and Dubai by March 2006.

In order to grow, Liberty is looking at roping in a strategic partner. Gupta said, the search for the partner is still on.

The company is eyeing a 15-20 per cent growth in turnover this year. In 2003-04, Liberty posted a turnover of Rs 350 crore and a net profit of Rs 10-12 crore.