Sajjan Jindal-promoted JSW Group announces entry into steel furniture biz

JSW Living, which will house the furniture brand, will invest Rs 250 crore in the next five years for expansion

Sajjan Jindal-promoted JSW Group on Thursday annou­nced its entry into the furniture business to build the conglomerate’s presence in the consumer-facing segment. JSW Living, which will house the furniture brand, will 

invest Rs 250 crore in the next five years.

“We plan to invest Rs 250 crore in the next five years and operate from 400 stores at a pan-India level,” said Tarini Jindal Handa, managing director-JSW Living. 

Jindal expects the company to be earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and ammortisation (Ebitda) positive by the end of the current financial year. The company aims to earn revenue of Rs 250 crore in the next two years and take it to Rs 1,000 crore in five years, Jindal said.

“This business foray is part of JSW Group’s diversification into consumer-facing businesses. The launch of Forma enables the infrastructure conglomerate to capitalise on the immense growth potential of India’s furniture market, which has been recording CAGR of 11% in the past five years, JSW said in its statement on Thursday. The company will sell furniture under the brand name Forma, derived from the word ‘form’.

Forma will sell through an online platform and offline outlets. Part of its soft launch, the company currently sells from 60 outlets under the furniture distribution model, the 400 outlets will be part of the same model. JSW Living at present does not own its exclusive store. 

“JSW Living will look at (own) retail stores only 2023 onwards,” Jindal added. In its statement, the company said JSW is targeting 50 exclusive Forma outlets in next 

few years.

JSW Living attributes the size of India’s furniture market in India to be at approximately $19 billion and growing at a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 11 per cent over the past five years. “JSW is targeting Forma to be among the top 5 furniture brands in India,” the statement said. 

Jindal refused to define a specific clientele for the latest offering. In terms of pricing, Jindal expects the products to fall in the ‘affordable premium’ category.

In the past couple of years, the Group has been busy re-working its diversification strategy. Last week, JSW Energy called off plans for the electric vehicles business, which it was earlier planning to invest Rs 6,500 crore. In February, Sajjan Jindal’s son Parth, managing director for JSW Cement, announced expansion plans of cement business.  

JSW Group has presence in steel, power, cement, infrastructure sports and plans to launch its paints business shortly.