Reliance waxes bullish on Indian retail boom

Lucknow, Jan 21: Head of Reliance Retail Ltd Raghu Pillai has sought to dispel fears that the retail boom would spell doom for the unorganised sector, saying the size of the Indian market is big.

''Apprehensions that the entry of retail giants would drive the neighbourhood shops and outlets out of business are unfounded, since the size of the market is big,'' Mr Pillai told sources at the sidelines of 'Manfest 2007', the annual business conclave of Indian Institute of Management, Lucknow (IIM-L), that started on Friday.

He said organised retail is still in a nascent stage, accounting for a miniscule seven per cent of the total Indian market.

''Organised retail is worth in the region of 7-8 billion US dollars at present and is expected to post growth of 15 per cent per annum,'' the President&Chief Executive, Operations&Strategy, Reliance Retial Ltd maintained.

On the reported entry of the multinational retail behemoths Wal Mart of the US and Tesco of the UK, Mr Pillai quipped, ''they are welcome.'' ''Any competition is good for consumers and augurs well for the retail sector...they (MNCs) are welcome.'' The company forayed in organised retail last year by opening several 'Reliance Fresh' stores in Hyderabad.

Mr Pillai informed that the company will open almost 200 'Reliance Fresh' stores in all the major cities/towns in Uttar Pradesh by April this year.

He further suggested that the state government should take pro-active measures, including legislation, to give a boost to the sector, allowing the benefits to percolate to the society.

Mr Pillai claimed direct supply of vegetables and other farm produce to stores would cut cost and benefit both the farmers and consumers. Besides, Reliance will open stores in 20 major Indian cities, including Chennai and Bangalore in this fiscal, which would be followed by diversification in lifestyle and hypermarkets.

Earlier, Mr Pillai delivered a talk on the buzz around modern retail at Manfest, where he was the chief guest.

Manfest is an ISO 9001:2000 certified extravaganza, which has metamorphosed into one of the most awaited events across all Indian B-schools and attended by global leaders from diverse fields, eminent management professionals and students.

Manfest 2007 is woven around the theme 'Indian Roots, Global Ambitions' and aims to capture the essence of Indian thinkers and organisations making big pioneering strides in global arena.

This year, the list of speakers at Manfest includes ad man Prahlad Kakkar; Raghu Pillai - Head, Reliance Retail; Chandra Sekaran - MD, Cognizant; Robert De Haas - Global HR Director; R P Singh - Director, PGCIL; Indrasen Vencatachellum - Chief of Section for Arts, Crafts and Design, UNESCO; Siva Shanker - Head, Structured Finance Division, Citibank; Neeraj Gambhir - General Manager, ICICI and Head of M&A Advisory, ICICI; and Krishna Iyer - COO DSP Merill Lynch.

UNI