IndiaRetailBiz

“Reliance Retail is well on track to create significant value creating platform, generate employment opportunities and trigger a socio economic transformation particularly in rural India.” — Mukesh Ambani, Chairman, Reliance Industries Limited, while addressing the 34th AGM of the company’s shareholders.

“We have addressed the challenges which we faced last year in its roll-out,” said Mukesh Ambani, Chairman of the Reliance Group. He was addressing shareholders of RIL on Thursday, the 12th, at Birla Matushri Hall, in south Mumbai.

Reliance Retail, it may be recalled, had to face more challenges than any other Indian or foreign retailer in the country, while rolling out its business. Many political activists and trade lobbies took to the street making its flagship chain Reliance ‘Fresh’ as a symbol of opposition for every thing that in their opinion was wrong with the organised, modern, or big retail.

Many a Reliance ‘Fresh’ shops were vandalised by miscreants in Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal and Uttar Pradesh, among others. As a result of this, Reliance Fresh has decided to put its entry or expansion plans on back burner in certain areas like Uttar Pradesh, Orissa, West Bengal, and Kerala.

Despite initial setbacks, the group has identified retail as platform for future growth. According to Ambani, “the company will press ahead with plans to expand its retail business, which since its launch in November, 2006, has already seen opening of nearly 700 stores, under fourteen distinct formats, across 60 towns and cities.

The first of these formats called Reliance ‘Fresh,’ which yesterday was voted among the ‘most trusted consumer brand’ under ’service’ category of the ET’s survey conducted by Brand Equity, has now grown into nearly 600 stores strong food & grocery neighbourhood convenience retail chain spread across major cities of the country. Reliance stores currently occupy over 3.5 million sq ft. of retailing area.

Reliance has succeeded in acquiring over 3.5 million loyal customers in the past 20 months. These customers have enrolled as members of the company’s ‘Reliance One’ programme, the benefits of which are available to them across all Reliance Retail formats.

Reiterating his earlier promise Ambani said, “We estimate that our retail business will generate in excess of half a million jobs directly over the next five years and many times that number indirectly.”

Speaking on harnessing human resources, Ambani said, “Reliance would nurture home-grown talent, besides hiring top talent from premier technology and management institutions.”

“The company would retain talent by way of a performance oriented employee stock option plan and is also working with educational institutions to help build more robust and industry oriented programmes,” added Ambani.