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Rukmini Priyadarshini

"The new brand will cater to the unmet buyer need for reliable karatage and resale value."

Bangalore , Sept. 1

THE average Indian buys more gold than any other consumer does in the world and Titan Industries sees this as a golden opportunity for a new mass-market jewellery brand.

Titan aims to capture a chunk of the market for plain gold jewellery in the world's largest gold consuming market through a mass-market jewellery brand.

India's Rs 55,000-crore jewellery market is also amongst the most unorganised and Titan is planning a differently-branded store for India's B class cities.

Titan plans to sell plain gold jewellery sourced locally from vetted vendors and endorsed by the Tata brand to win customers over from small local jewellers, said Mr Bhaskar Bhat, MD.

Buoyed by the success of its upmarket Tanishq brand of jewellery in a competitive market, Titan is planning the mass-market brand to cater to the unmet buyer need for reliable karatage and resale value.

Speaking to Business Line, Mr Bhat said the company would meet local tastes by sourcing locally but have a nationwide chain of branded stores selling primarily plain gold jewellery targeted specifically at those buying from their neighbourhood or family jeweller.

"Designs and retailing will be by Titan and the yet-to-be-named mass-market brand will probably be the largest store in each of these cities selling jewellery at competitive prices but with the Tata endorsement," Mr Bhat said.

Jewellery is a highly penetrated market and while the Tanishq brand will grow henceforth through more stores and increased sales per store, there is an opportunity in the mass market that Titan wants to address.

The company is planning to open a pilot store in the South next month. Jewellery business for Titan is growing at over 26 per cent and contributed Rs 535.01 crore to total revenues, compared with Rs 601.59 crore by the time products business.

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