The Hindu Business Line : UB Group plans retail foray

TO TAKE advantage of the good margins in alcohol business, the UB Group is planning a retail foray. It is also set to spend nearly $5 billion (Rs 22,800 crore) in aircraft acquisition in the next five years.

"We are planning to enter into retail of alcohol as margins are good. We are working out the details for our retail foray," the UB Group Chairman, Mr Vijay Mallya, told presspersons here on Sunday.

Mr Mallya also said the company would invest $5 billion in the next five years in its recently launched Kingfisher Airlines to acquire new aircraft and set up its own training academy for pilots, cabin crew and ground staff.

"We believe that as disposable incomes with the young working class increase, there will be a demand for a vibrant airline because as the economy grows, travel will grow.

"We hope to cater to the vibrant section of customers," Mr Mallya said. Addressing students at `Confluence-2005', the four-day management fest of Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad, he said aspiration and quality go hand in hand and Kingfisher does not intend to be a low-cost airline.

"We have delivered more for less. Even Jet cannot match our in-flight entertainment system because it will cost them millions to retrofit their planes and obtain the required certifications," Mr Mallya said.

Taking a dig at Gujarat's prohibition policy, the country's liquor baron said the State Government was losing Rs 2,500 crore annually as lost excise revenues by continuing to stick with the dry policy.

"Tell me which brand of alcohol is not available in Ahmedabad at twice the price (through illegal channels)? But when I tell the Chief Minister, Mr Narendra Modi, that the State should lift prohibition, he says it cannot be done. And he calls himself progressive," Mr Mallya said.

Article E-Mail :: Comment :: Syndication :: Printer Friendly Page