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Somasroy Chakraborty

Kolkata, Aug. 28 Reliance Industries Ltd has no plans to suspend its retail operations in Kolkata and West Bengal. The company expects the first store to be operational in next two months.

“We have neither closed down nor slowed down our retail plans in West Bengal. Basically, there was no deadline for opening the first store in the State. If things fall into place, our first store in Kolkata will be operational within two months,” a senior company official told Business Line, on condition of anonymity.

However, Mr Kalyan Sarangi, Eastern Region Head, RIL, declined to comment on the issue. Mr Manu Kapoor, spokesperson of Reliance Retail, was also not available for comment.

“The delay is on the part of central processing centres, where the farm produce are processed after direct procurement from farmers. Besides we are going into a lean season as a result of which prices of fruits and vegetables have shot up. Once the backward integration is done we will have our first store operational in the city,” the official said.

On the political outcry regarding RIL’s retail venture, the official said, “We have already communicated to the West Bengal Chief Minister, Mr Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, about the attacks on Reliance Fresh outlets in the city. We have been able to open stores in other States where we faced similar problems, and in West Bengal we expect the same.”

“We also have the support of the State Government. We plan to set up 13 distribution centres in and around Kolkata and have already got approval for six distribution centres from the Government. All the six distribution centres are in the final stage of completion,” the official added.

According to the official, the company will not change its procurement model to include intermediaries instead of direct purchase from farmers.

The company has ear-marked Rs 2,500-3,000 crore investment for setting up 200 Reliance Fresh stores in the State.

The company has already acquired and taken on lease 22 properties in Kolkata for its retail outlets.

The first Reliance Fresh outlet started operation in Hyderabad in November 2006. Currently, the company has 278 operational outlets across 10 States.

More Stories on : Retailing | Politics | Reliance Industries Ltd | West Bengal

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