Adani to open hypermarts in Maharashtra, Rajasthan

B2C India Ltd, promoted by the Ahmedabad-based multi diversified Adani Group, will invest Rs 80 crore for expanding its retail outlets beyond Gujarat. Over the next two to three years Adani's supermarkets and hyypermarkets will be set up in Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh.

From a turnover of Rs 35 crore in the year 2003-2004, B2C India Ltd has chalked out plans of reaching a turnover of Rs 1,300 crore in next five years. The company expects its turnover to increase more than three times to Rs 120 crore by the end of the current financial year.

"B2C will invest an additional Rs 80 crore in the supermarket and hypermarket chain over the next three years", said Devang Desai, managing director, B2C India.

Vahid Ravji, chief operating officer of B2C India told Business Standard, "Apart from opening outlets in neighbouring states, we also plan to open eight more retail outlets in Gujarat by December." The retail market in Gujarat alone is estimated to be worth about Rs 500 crore.

On the entry of several new players in the organised retail market of the state, Ravji said, "We welcome healthy competition and ultimately, it is the consumer who will benefit. People will get more options to choose and certainly the quality of products will improve."

Organised retailing in the country is set to grow six fold over next five years. At present, the organised reatailing accounts for just two per cent of the country's total retailing market.

In the last four years alone, the share of organised retailing in China has shot from four per cent to 25 per cent of the total retailing market. Similar trends have been seen in other South Asian countries such as Thailand and Indonesia.

The world second largest management consultancy firm KPMG has certified B2C India for ISO 9001:2000 certification. The company is the first retail chain in the country to have got the ISO 9002 certification.

Within the span of around three years, the company has started operations at 35 outlets and three full-fledged central warehouses in Gujarat under the brand name of Adani Supermarket.

Out of the total of 35 outlets, 23 are located in Ahmedabad, seven in Vadodara, two in Surat, one in Gandhinagar, Nadiad and Mundra.