Kalyan to invest Rs 1,500 crore for expansion in India, Gulf

Kalyan had targeted Rs 9,600 crore worth sales from its India and Gulf operations in the current financial year

Thrissur-based jewellery retail chain, Kalyan Jewellers, will convert 351 of its ‘My Kalyan’ customer service centres  in Kerala, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu to mini diamond stores, said TS Kalyanaraman, chairman and managing director of the group.

At one stroke 159 such stores will be opened in  Kerala on July 28 and the  rest by   August 10. The group has earmarked Rs 100 crore to convert 551 service centers across the country to mini diamond stores.

Addressing a press conference here today, he said Kalyan had planned to invest Rs 1,400 crore to expand operations in India and the Gulf this financial year.  As per the plan, 17 new showrooms  would be opened across India and 11 across major Gulf countries, including three each in Kuwait, Qatar  and two in Dubai. The group’s big entry in the Gulf region was in last December where it opened six showrooms in a single day. He said so far the sales in the Gulf sector  had crossed Rs 300 crore.

He added Kalyan had targeted  a combined sale of Rs 9,600 crore from its  India and Gulf operations in the current financial year. The group plans to go for an IPO in a couple of years. It also planned to unleash a major CSR initiative in the education sector shortly.

The company would sell gold and diamond ornaments under its ‘My Kalyan’ initiative from Rs 5,000 to Rs 20,000. The group targets Rs 250 crore sales from these new stores in this financial year.

He said there was tremendous growth potential in small towns as the annual average growth in the diamond jewellery segment in India is 10-15 per cent.

People were more aware of diamond jewellery and a  moderate shift towards diamonds was happening  among the customers. However, the customer profile of diamonds for the time being  is upper middle class and high income groups. The new stores would make a paradigm shift in this, he said. The group has planned to open 1,000 such stores across the country by 2016. All ornaments in these stores will have a BIS hallmark seal and buy back scheme.

Meanwhile, Kalyan Developers, the realty arm of the group, has plans to construct apartment housing projects at Kochi, Kollam and Thrivananthapuram. The company has already invested Rs 300 crore for various villa and apartment projects in Thirssur.