Rajesh Exports plans Rs 6,500-cr capex, to open 550 outlets

MUMBAI: Bangalore-based leading jewelery exporter and retailer Rajesh Exports today said it plans to invest Rs 6,500 crore to expand its retail chain Shubh Jewelers by opening 550 outlets in the four southern states.

"We have decided to invest Rs 6,500 crore to expand our retail outlets by opening 550 new stores in Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Goa by 2014," Rajesh Exports executive chairman Rajesh Mehta told reporters here.

The project will be funded through Rs 2,000 crore of internal accruals, Rs 2,000 crore suppliers credit and Rs 2,500 crore via raising debt through ECBs, Mehta said.

The company already has 70 retail outlets in Karnataka and plans to expand it to 125 stores by next April.

With the completion of 550 stores by 2014, it hopes to acquire eight percent share in the retail gold jewelery market, which would translate into retail revenue of about Rs 25,000 crore by FY15, making it the biggest player in the retail space, Mehta said.

The company intends to bring in a paradigm shift in retailing of gold jewelery, he said, adding Rajesh Exports being the world's only fully integrated player in gold jewelery and the lowest cost gold jewelery producer in the world, is the only company which is capable of delivering true value for such jewelery.

Rajesh Exports has decided to end the age old concept of 'rate per gram' in the jewelery business by introducing the 'real rate per gram' and it would be offering a wide range of designs of gold jewelery, wherein each piece would be BIS hall marked at 'real rate per gram'.