Pantaloon earmarks Rs900 crore for retail space
27 Aug 2011
Leading retailer Pantaloon Retail India Ltd (PRIL) has allocated Rs900 crore over the next three years on 9 million square feet of retail space, which it had already booked for expansion across India for expansion.
The move by the Kishore Biyani-promoted Future Group is being seen as a measure to ensure it had enough expansion space in the event of multinational firms expanding their footprint into the Indian retail sector with the entry of FDI in multi-brand, when it is allowed.
"Supply of fresh quality real estate space within large Indian metropolises is increasingly becoming scarcer. The demand for this space is also expected to increase significantly in the near future as more retail companies vie for this space," PRIL said in an investor document.
The group said, envisaging the future scenario, it launched an aggressive strategy of securing quality real estate for its future expansion plans and had booked over 9 million square feet of retail space.
Sources say, the group had set aside Rs800-900 crore for the purpose.
Around 60 per cent of the total retail space that the group had booked would be used to set up Big Bazaar stores.