RJ Corp co inks JV with GMR for food retail chain

NEW DELHI: Ravi Jaipuria-owned Devyani International (DIL) has inked a 60:40 joint venture with GMR to set up multiple food retail outlets at the Delhi International Airport. The details of the JV are still being worked out.

The Rs 250-crore DIL, which is the Indian franchisee of global food retail chains Pizza Hut, KFC and coffee chain Costa Coffee, is also venturing into the restaurant retail chain space under its own brands.

It is setting up a nationwide chain of restaurants under three different brands ��� Southern Spirit, Curry Republic and Oriental Cuisine. ���The portfolio expansion from serving international cuisine to local food is aimed at broadbasing our business,��� RJ Corp president and group CFO Raj Gandhi said.

The exercise has been kicked off with DIL setting up a food court at the Delhi domestic airport that houses Pizza Hut, KFC, Costa Coffee and PepsiCo beverages and Cream Bell ice-cream.

���The food court is being run as a single entity and serves a combination of our locally-created brands and international ones for which we are the franchisees. We will replicate this model at other airports, malls and other institutional areas,��� Mr Gandhi said.

DIL is planning to set up similar food courts at Jaipur, Amritsar and Chandigarh airports. The company has already put in tenders with the Airports Authority of India for the same. Plans are meanwhile afoot to set up a 24-hour bar at the Delhi domestic airport.

That apart, DIL will explore setting up standalone restaurants that it will manage on its own, beginning with Southern Spirit which serves South Indian cuisine.

���The plan is to set up 100 Southern Spirit restaurants over the next 4-5 years, starting with Delhi-NCR. Our main focus will be Southern Spirit to begin with,��� said Devyani International CEO Virag Joshi. On an average, the investment on a food court of about 12,000 sq ft involves a cost of close to Rs 10 crore (excluding rentals).

Apart from food retail, the Rs 2,000-crore RJ Corp, which is also PepsiCo���s biggest bottler, has business interests in Walt Disney group company Disney Artist, liquor (through a joint venture with beer major InBev), real estate, hotels and education.