Tara Jewels to open 20 showrooms by June, launch IPO

Mumbai, Jan 30 (PTI) Buoyed by growth in demand,studded jewellery exporter Tara Jewels is bullish on retailexpansion and is planning to open 20 company-owned showroomsby June, a top executive has said.

"We started our retail business recently and alreadyhave 31 company-owned stores across 19 cities. We are planningto add 20 more stores by June," Tara Jewels ExecutiveDirector, Marketing, Retail and Business Development, VikramRaizada, told PTI.

To fund its retail business, the company will raise upto Rs 200 crore from the capital market through its proposedinitial public offering (IPO), he said.

Market regulator SEBI approved the proposed IPO thismonth. The company had filed its draft red herring prospectuswith the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) for IPOin September 2010.

"We hope to enter the capital market this calenderyear, depending on the market conditions," Raizada said.

Initially, the jewellery exporter will focus onestablishing the retail brand in the western and northernregions before moving to the east and south, he said.

Tara Jewels primarily exports to Australia, China,Canada, European Union, South Africa, the UAE, the UK and theUS. In European Union it exports to 16 countries, includingAustria, Germany and Switzerland, he added.

It is also exploring new markets for exports. "We haverecently set up an office in Honduras in Central America toexplore opportunities in Central and Latin America," Raizadasaid. .