InterGold Gems plans retail expansion at Rs 60 crore  ( May '7,2003, HBL)

WITH the lure of the diamonds proving to be irresistible, InterGold is planning to invest Rs 60 crore in the next three years to enlarge its retail base.

The company, which clocked a sale of about Rs 400 crore in 2001-02 is confident of recording an annual growth of over 30 per cent. Speaking to Business Line on the sidelines of the opening of InterGold's 16th showroom in the country in Coimbatore, Mr Vijay Jain, CEO, InterGold Gems Pvt Ltd, Mumbai, said the group was planning to establish another factory in Mumbai to cater to the domestic jewellery market at an estimated investment of about Rs 3 crore to Rs 4 crore. It has factories in Goa and in SEEPZ, Mumbai.

To give a push to its retail thrust in the country, InterGold was eyeing an investment of $12 million (about Rs 60 crore) in the next three years in establishing 60 new stores across the country to market its array of jewels in diamond, gold and platinum. He said the company envisaged opening 20 new stores annually with a mix of metros and mini-metros.

He said InterGold, promoted by Rosyblue/B. Arunkumar Group, had been supplying diamond jewellery to large international chains and has been the largest exporter of diamonds from India. But what excited the company about India was that the diamond segment was the fastest growing segment in the jewellery market in the country ( by 50 to 80 per cent).

He said though the on-going recession in the US and Japan had impacted diamond business, the growth was still positive.

Mr Vijay Jain said his company achieved a sales turnover of about Rs 400 crore during 2001-02 and in 2002-03, the growth was about 33 per cent. He was confident of achieving at least 30 per cent growth in domestic sales during the current fiscal too. In international markets, the growth was in double digits, he said.

Mr Vijay Jain said InterGold, was the only brand that worked in close coordination with international bodies such as DTC (De Beers), World Gold Council and the Platinum Guild International. It had design centres in the US, Japan, Hong Kong, Germany and India and spent about $2 million annually on design development.