Swedish retail chain Rusta, which announced its India operations and opened its country headquarters in New Delhi on Wednesday, said Gujarat would play a major role in textile shipment.

The $400 million annual turnover retailer would import finished products worth Rs 200 crore annually from India in the next 3-4 years, an official said.

Gaurav Ghambir, Country Head-Rusta in India, said, the retailer plans to have “huge amount” of textile shipment from Gujarat, a key market for it. He said the company may open its very first store in the state. “Ahmedabad, Rajkot, Vadodara, Vapi, Bhavnagar and Gandhidam are important places for us from the viewpoint of manufacturing purposes.”

Rusta’s increased focus on Indian Market will help exporters of paper, handicrafts from Rajasthan, textiles products from Tamil Nadu, coir from Kerala, plastics and textiles from Gujarat and jute from West Bengal, he said.

The 26-year-old Rusta, a triple-A rated company, is increasing the number of retail stores in Sweden from 67 to 72. More than 80 per cent of the products sold in its stores are imported from Europe and Asia in large volumes. The imports from India were being so far handled by the Bangkok office, said Bengt-Olov Forssell, founder, Rusta.

Rusta’s Global CEO Göran Westerberg said the India office is Rusta’s fifth outside Sweden. It would be increasing procurement from Coimbatore, Ludhiana, Ahmedabad  and Kolkata.

Rusta is its own importer and wholesaler, as well as distributor and retailer. Its model of skipping all intermediaries and instead do business directly with the manufacturers helps the company to provide more value for money and high quality standards, according to a statement here.

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