The Hindu Business Line : Vishal Retail plans expansion, targets Rs 300-cr turnover

NEW DELHI-based Vishal Retail Pvt Ltd plans to expand its Vishal Megamart chain of retail outlets. It will open 20-25 stores in class-B cities of Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Gujarat and Punjab.

The expansion will be completed by March 2007 at an investment of Rs 100-150 crore, said Mr Ram Chandra Agarwal, Promoter, Vishal Retail.

Explaining the rationale of moving into class-B cities, Mr Agarwal said, "There is a gap in retail space and we want to bridge that."

While some stores will be standalone, others will be opened in malls, he said.

The expansion will be funded mostly through an initial public offering, which the company plans by March next year.

"We are conducting the due diligence and will file the red herring prospectus with the Securities and Exchange Board of India soon," said Mr Agarwal. "We would initially generate Rs 100 crore from the equity market," he added.

Vishal Retail will thus add six-seven lakh sq. ft of retail space (25,000-30,000 sq. ft. per store).

The company already has four lakh sq.ft. space(about 600 cricket pitches laid next to each other).

The capacity of the company's garment manufacturing facility at Gurgaon (Delhi-NCR) will also be expanded to 2.5 lakh pieces a month from one lakh pieces.

All garments sold by the stores are sourced from this facility.

Apart from readymade garments, Vishal retails watches, sunglasses, electrical appliances, perfumes and cosmetics.

The company has a turnover target of Rs 300 crore for the current fiscal against the Rs 147 crore it clocked last year.

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