Bengaluru: Malabar Gold to open more showrooms, manufacturing units

Bengaluru, Oct 27: Malabar Gold and Diamonds, a jewellery retailer with an annual turnover of Rs 26,000 crore, plans to expand its manufacturing facilities at industrial parks in Kerala, West Bengal, Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh.

It is also planning to open 22 new showrooms, across India, GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council) and the Far East, in the next six months, that would expand its base to 155 outlets, the company said.

The move, according to Malabar Group Chairman M P Ahammed, is in keeping with the group's strategic Vision 2020 Plan to increase the retailer's outlets to 300 by 2020.

Ahammed said the group plans to expand its manufacturing facilities through adding more production lines which would see the group creating job opportunities for almost 5,000 skilled jewellery artistans.

Malabar Gold and Diamonds in association with the UAE government is building an advanced gold manufacturing unit on a five acre plot in Dubai, which is currently in progress, he said in a release issued by the company.

At present, the group's 12,000 kg of gold is manufactured at its facilities in India and abroad with units in Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Telangana, Maharashtra, Qatar, Sharjah and Saudi.

The group hopes to notch up gold jewellery exports of Rs 2,000 crore in the fiscal 2015-16. Malabar Gold and Diamonds is the flagship company of Malabar Group, a leading diversified group.

PTI