Jewellery maker and exporter Gitanjali Group is planning to invest Rs 400 crore in expanding its retail base in India and overseas’ markets over the next 18 months, said a top company executive on Tuesday.

Gitanjali Group, which is targeting 30% growth in revenues to reach Rs 6,500 crore for 2009-10, plans to increase its exclusive jewellery retail outlets in India almost three times from 150 currently. In addition, the company-owned jewellery outlets in the US, China and Middle-East put together will be doubled from 140 at present. The expansion will be mainly met through internal accruals.

“We are gradually doing away with wholesale ventures and concentrating more on retail business. The new retail outlets will display premium jewellery brands besides private labels,” said Gitanjali Group chairman Mehul Choksi at a conference. He added that the company is also planning to scale up the workforce in India to 10,000 in the next one year from 7,000 currently.

Besides expanding retail footprint on its own, the company’s joint venture with state-run trading agency Mineral and Metal Trading Corporation (MMTC) will also open another set of jewellery stores in India with investments of Rs 75 crore over the next two years.

“Under the JV, we are planning to open 60 exclusive jewellery stores – Shuddhi – in metros, tier-I and tier-II cities over the next two years. Shuddhi will mainly sell hallmark gold and diamond jewellery,” said MMTC managing director Sanjeev Batra.

The 74:26 JV – MMTC & Gitanjali India Ltd, in which Gitanjali Group holds the majority stake, was formed three months ago. It is expected to fetch revenues worth Rs 100 crore after one year of operation.

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