RIL plans 150 retail outlets

Plans to pump in Rs 3000-5000 cr in Gujarat alone for around 20 outlets.

Reliance Industries (RIL) plans to set up 150 retail outlets in the country, of which more than 20 would be in Gujarat. The state would get the company's first outlet, as well.

One of the two largest cities of the state "" Ahmedabad and Surat "" will have RIL's first retail outlet in the form of a combination of a hyper market and a super market. RIL has acquired land in Ahmedabad and Surat for the proposed retail outlets and work will begin in two months.

For its retail outlets in Gujarat alone, in the first phase, the company plans to pump in Rs 3,000-5,000 crore.

Industry sources said, "The company has acquired a piece of land, which is a part of a closed mill in Ahmedabad. Another land has been acquired by it near Parimal garden in a posh area on CG Road of the city."

RIL is also looking for a third location on the Gandhinagar-Sarkhej highway.

It has also acquired a land in Surat, which is ready for the outlet to be designed.

The final design will be freezed within a month time, said the sources. Gujarat, where the company has its massive presence in terms of refinery and petrochemicals complexes, is going to be the focal point in its retail market strategy.

In the first phase, four cities "" Jamnagar, Baroda, Rajkot, Bhavnagar and Surat "" will have one RIL outlet each. Depending on the response, the company will increase the number of outlets or go in for hyper markets in addition to super markets, said the sources.

For outlets in other states, a simulteneous drive to acquire land has begun, they added.