Market Voice: Mehul Choksi, CMD, Gitanjali Gems

'We have been a little cautious with the US'

While the gems and jewellery market has remained stagnant of late, Mehul Choksi, chairman & managing director, Gitanjali Group, tells Ujjval Jauhari that the company is likely to record 15 per cent growth this year. Excerpts:

How do you see the growth of the organised gems and jewellery market in India?
Indian gems and jewellery market is growing steadily, with the organised sector recording even stronger growth. Europe is a very small market, so economic slowdown has not affected us to that extent. On the contrary, we have seen a four-six per cent growth in the US market in the past few months.

While the gems and jewellery market may remain stagnant for the next six months, overall we may see about 15 per cent year-on-year growth.

What is the retail footprint of Gitanjali Gems in India and international markets? Do you plan to increase it further?
We have around 3,000 retail outlets in India and another 500 independent stores. We are introducing many new formats and expect around Rs 2,500-3,000 crore sales from the Indian retail market.

In the US, we have around 150 retail stores and get around $200 million sales from these. China is another high-potential market and we plan around $20-30 million sales from the country. Around $250-300 million sales come from diamond sales in the global market. Currently, we are concentrating on India and China.

We are being a little cautious with the US, but are expanding our retail in the UAE.

Gitanjali Gems is in news because of its foray in the real estate sector. Can you elaborate?
We are looking at a revenue of Rs 500-550 crore from the real estate sector in the next couple of years. At present, we are in the process of unlocking value from our existing properties. We will develop our own properties in a phased manner. While some three-lakh sq feet area is now being developed, more will be developed in coming years.