Croma gets Rs 1,000 crore recharge from Tatas, scope for more

Kolkata: Tata Group has made a Rs 1,000-crore capital infusion in Croma, the conglomerate's consumer electronics and smartphone retail chain, this year, according to the company's latest filings with the corporate affairs ministry. There is scope for another similar value capital infusion by the parent since there has been a recent increase in Croma's authorised share capital by Rs 2,000 crore.

After the increase, Croma has an authorised share capital of Rs 6,000 crore. Tata Digital is the parent of Infiniti Retail, the holding company which owns and runs the Croma retail chain.

As per the regulatory filings, Infiniti Retail's losses swelled in FY25, touching Rs 1,091 crore from Rs 986 crore in the year before. Total income grew by 6.7% to Rs 19,228 crore.

"FY25 was a year of transformation for Croma. Despite intense regional competition and soft market demand, the company has registered growth with enhanced margins," Infiniti Retail said, in the filings. "The company has streamlined its operating costs especially in supply chain and marketing to deliver a strong EBITDA swing."

Infiniti Retail said it has adopted a new strategy to "get fit & get fast" to dominate the market. Towards this, it has reset the business model and initiated multiple initiatives to boost operating margins and reduce overhead costs.

"Tata Digital would be the strategic partner in this journey, and the company continues to collaborate with them to build technology capabilities, acquire new customers, develop loyalty programs and leverage cost synergies," the company said.

Infiniti Retail did not respond to email queries.

Mohit Yadav, founder of business intelligence firm AltInfo, said FY25 marks Croma's reset from chasing scale to pursuing sustainable margins. "With Rs 1,000 crore fresh capital from Tata Digital, sharper cost control, and selective bets like BigBasket-enabled quick commerce -- the real test in FY26 is whether this discipline converts into durable profitability," he said.

According to the filings, Croma grew faster than the market at 13% store growth and gained market share in FY25. It said while same-store growth was flat due to a drop in footfalls, the online channel declined by 36% as the company shifted focus towards profitable and sustainable sales.

The domestic electronics market saw a 8% growth in offline sales last fiscal year aided by strong demand for air conditioners at 28%, and flat to moderate demand in other categories. Croma had 564 stores operational as of March-end. It has partnered with the Tata Group's quick commerce venture BigBasket to deliver electronics in select cities, which it said has "shown good results".