Reliance Retail races ahead of rivals to be largest retailer

Mukesh Ambani-owned Reliance Retail has raced ahead of competition to

become the largest player in India’s organised retail segment this year. The company is set to overtake India’s oldest and leading market leader Future Retail. Reliance Retail reported a turnover of Rs 10,857 crores for the nine months ended December 31, 2013, while Future group Chairman Kishore Biyani had said in January that his group expects to clock revenues of about Rs 11,000 crores for the full year, but Reliance has already achieved that figure in the first nine months of the year itself. Experts feel that the company would be easily able to move ahead of the competition by March 31, 2014.

Parent company Reliance Industries, with strong financial backup of Rs 90,000 crores, plans to carry out aggressive expansion plans for the retail business. The company is looking to achieve a turnover target of Rs 50,000 crores from this segment by 2016-17. “Reliance Retail will be one of our important growth engines in the next few years and will have amongst the highest growth rates and earnings potential,” Ambani had said at the company’s last AGM in June last year.

Reliance entered the retail segment in 2006-07 but the venture was not immediately a success. In fact, it had to bear losses for the first five years, which finally turned around in 2012-13 when it posted a profit of Rs 78 crores. This year, it has earned a profit of Rs 278 crores in the first nine months of 2013-14.