Metro Cash & Carry to invest Rs 1,690 cr in India by 2020

The firm, which currently has 24 stores in India, plans to open another 26 over the next few years

Metro Cash & Carry India, the Indian arm of the German multinational wholesale company, that opened its first store in Gujarat at Surat in 2016, has opened another store in Ahmedabad this year. The company aims to open another 26 stores across the country by 2020 with an estimated investment of about Rs 1,690 crore.

 

Arvind Mediratta, chief executive officer and managing director of Metro Cash and Carry India did not wish to divulge the exact investment figures on the upcoming stores, but said that it roughly worked out to be around Rs 60-65 crore per store.

 

The company now operates 24 stores across the country, including the Ahmedabad store that is spread over 55,000 square feet and will help create more than 350 jobs for the local economy.

 

Metro Cash and Carry is upbeat on the Gujarat market and has other projects in the pipeline for the state. It already has a store in Surat. The company has so far invested Rs 2,300 crore in India and is one of the largest organised wholesalers.

 

Metro India caters to over 1.1 million customers across the country, of which around 50 per cent are kiranas, apart from hotels, restaurants and caterers (HoReCa). Mediratta feels that the Indian market would slowly move towards HoReCa segment in the coming years.

 

“At present, HoReCa comprises only 15 per cent of the wholesale business in India. In Europe, for example, it is 70 per cent of the business. In India HoReCa would grow to around 20-25 per cent in the coming years,” he said.

 

The Ahmedabad store sources 20 per cent of its assortment from regional suppliers. Fresh produce for the store, such as fruits and vegetables, will be sourced from farm centre at Prantij Village and the local mandi in the city.

 

Across India, Metro works with 2,500 farmers and has over 5,000 suppliers for over 7,000 product categories.

 

Mediratta says that the kirana store model is the one to stay and succeed in a country like India. Metro is already handholding the kirana owners to modernise their operations, automate inventory management, billing, ordering etc. At present, around 96 per cent of the gorcery business in the country is unorganised.