Sahara FMCG venture eyes Rs 15,000-crore turnover

Sahara India Group is eyeing turnover of almost Rs 15,000 crore from its Fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) and retail arm Sahara Q Shop in the next four years. Currently, the venture, launched in August 2012, is clocking monthly revenues of about Rs 70 crore.

“In the next four years, we are looking at turnover of between Rs 12,000 crore and Rs 15,000 crore,” Sahara Group Chairman Subrata Roy Sahara replied to a Business Standard query here on Tuesday.

The company plans to expand its exclusive retail stores from 1,057 at present to 30,000 retail points by 2015 to achieve the turnover target. It would be a mix of company and franchisee owned formats across India.

In the first phase, the retail footprints would be first increased to 10,000 by 2014.

Sahara Q Shop products are also available through 835 distributors and at 1,50,000 kirana shops, he informed.

Sahara was addressing the media on the launch of Quality Mobile Shop (QMS), a new distribution channel for Sahara Q Shop in the form of retail vans.

The company has rolled out 181 QMS across five states — Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Rajasthan and Bihar. By March 2014, the company would ramp up the number to 500 QMS across eight states. “Going forward, we would launch our outlets in Bangladesh as well,” Sahara said on the sidelines.

Sahara Q Shop vends 895 products across eight categories, including staples, personal care, electrical appliances and merchandise. It sources goods from about 150 firms, while it plans to tie up with companies for manufacturing its private label goods.

“In six-eight months, Sahara Group would launch several new initiatives. In a month, we would be giving ads for the requirement of 27,000 officer rank personnel for our different divisions. Besides, in another two and a half years, we would need 2,50,000 more salaried employees,” Sahara added.