The Rs 5,900-crore Shree Ganesh Jewellery House Ltd has entered into a 50:50 venture with Italian company SALP SPA for retailing lightweight gold jewellery under the brand Oroitalia.

The joint venture company, Oroitalia Sales Ltd, will retail the brand across the country and for the company's export market base in Singapore, West Asia and Hong Kong, said Mr Nilesh Parekh, Chairman, Shree Ganesh.

Oroitalia will set up a manufacturing unit at Shree Ganesh's integrated jewellery manufacturing complex at Domjur in West Bengal at an estimated investment of Rs 100 crore. The unit will be operational by the first quarter of 2012. “The unit will be set up with an initial capacity to manufacture 10 tonnes of lightweight jewellery, particularly gold chains, annually,” Mr Parekh said.

Lightweight jewellery accounts for almost 20 per cent of the domestic jewellery market at Rs 50,000 crore. “Volatile gold prices and the changing consumer behaviour especially of young customers have been the key drivers to the growth in this segment,” Mr Parekh pointed out.

Shree Ganesh is also in talks with a European branded retail jewellery outlet to tap the Chinese market. “We have decided on the company and have firmed up on doing something together. However, we are yet to work on finer details like where to have these retail outlets – whether it should be only in India or in China as well, what kind of merchandise should be sold, etc,” Mr Parekh said.

Shree Ganesh recently acquired a Kolkata-based non-banking financial company to foray into the gold loan business. “We are working on the modalities of its functioning, the area where the offices can be set up, etc. It should be operational by March 2012,” Mr Parekh said.

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