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Our Bureau

Plans to open 20 more retail stores

Ahmedabad , June 27

Godrej Aadhaar, the agri-services cum retail initiative of the Rs 900-crore Godrej Agrovet Ltd, launched two new large-format retail stores in Surat district early this week, with the objective of setting up 20 more stores in the state in next five years.

Earlier, the company had successfully launched similar facilities at Prantij, Umreth and Asodhar towns of Gujarat.

The new stores have been opened at Kamrej and Kim, both in Surat district, Mr R.S. Vijan, the Executive Vice-President of the company, told a news conference here. Launched 16 months back, this format was successful in Maharashtra and Punjab.

For farmers

Godrej Aadhaar, is a brand initiated to strengthen the business' age-old relationship with the Indian farmer. It provides a host of services and facilities to the rural population. The company is now planning to set up more than 1,000 stores across the country in the next five years, Mr Vijan said.

The new format stores, which is sprawling over an area of around 6,500 sq ft at Kamrej and 3,000 sq ft at Kim, not only offer complete agricultural solutions and products for the farmers but also a wide range of commodities, including food, grocery, apparel, footwear, home appliances, furniture, kitchenware and hardware for the farmers .

Other services

A host of services such as banking, insurance, pharmacy, postal services and petrol pumps have also been planned to make Godrej Aadhaar a destination point for all conveniences. Other value-added services included photocopying, fax, Internet, tailoring, saloons, food services, flourmill, mobile medical service, electronic money transfer and travel agents. Godrej Agrovet Ltd will also be converting its old stores into the new format, Mr Vijan said.

These urban facilities in semi-urban and rural areas were expected to reduce the rate of migration of the people to the cities, he said.

Recently, Godrej Aadhaar had tied up with Apollo Pharmacy, part of the Apollo Hospitals Group and India's largest retail pharmacy chain, to pilot medicine support via Apollo Aadhaar Pharmacys, now located at select Aadhaar outlets in India.

Mr Vijan pointed out that the Aadhaar model's innovation lay in its unique `capability-led empowerment' process of the Indian farmer to sustain an improved productivity cycle.

Best practices

Godrej Aadhaar develops the `best practices' programmes for different crops grown in its region of operations, approaches individual farmers and advises them to implement these programmes based on scientific methods like soil micro-nutrients analysis, seeds, integrated fertiliser management and proper usage of pesticides. Aadhaar's technical workforce and infrastructural facilities like soil and water testing laboratories facilitate the delivery of these practices to farmers.

Godrej Agrovet Ltd is a key player in the Indian agricultural sector with a large presence in cattle, poultry, aqua feeds and innovative agricultural inputs. It employs more than 1,600 employees and has had over 40 manufacturing and processing units across India. Godrej Agrovet is a market-leader in animal feeds, innovative agri-products and oil-palm development in India.

More Stories on : Retailing | Marketing | Gujarat

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