Rabo Bank study says food retailing set to register a ten-fold growth
Bangalore: The Indian food retailing industry is set to register a ten-fold growth to touch a whopping Rs 75 billion ($1.5 billion) in the next five years, says a study commissioned by Rabo India Finance Pvt. Ltd., a fully owned subsidiary of the Netherlands-based Rabo Bank. The study has shown that modern food retailing is set to register a high growth pattern due to the increase in nuclear families, more women taking up professional careers and the opening up of the economy and other variables.

According to the report, the target segment for organised retail market was estimated to be around 6 million households or 25 million people, whose spending habits are undergoing a radical change. This is based on the assumption that 20 per cent of households earning above Rs 150,000 per annum, who till recently considered price as the main the parameter for purchase decisions have now changed and consider attributes such as quality, ambience and convenience as preferred parameters for their buying decisions.

The study found that south Indian states of Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka have taken a lead in establishing modern retail food outlets. The growth of organised retailing has shown particular vigor in Chennai and Bangalore where an estimated 20 per cent of households purchase an estimated 40 per cent of their grocery requirements through modern retail formats, the study pointed out. Media exposure, nuclear families and emancipation of women are some of the important demographic reasons for the shift in the decision-making variables from price, the study has noted.
The study has also estimated that organised food retail sector is set to expand over ten folds in the next five years to approximately Rs 75 billion ($1.6 billion). The estimates is based on the assumption that 6 million households would spend Rs 1,000 per month through organised retail.
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BIS to issue Indian version of ISO 9000
New Delhi: The Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) is issuing the Indian version of the IS/ISO 9000 of the recently revised ISO 9000 standards released in Geneva in mid-December 2000. Companies across the board, including those with an existing ISO certification, would now be required to comply with the new norms within three years, failing which the old certification would be revoked.

The revised version, the second since the standards were issued worldwide in 1987, has sought to put a stop to the craze among companies of all hues, vying to sport an ISO 9000 label, more as a marketing gimmick than as a certification of quality. Lieutenant General H. Lal, BIS chairman, who is also the Director-General of the Quality Forum, Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry has said that all companies including those already having an ISO 9000 certification would now have to comply with the new parameters. Companies will be given a maximum of three years to make the transition and comply with the new standards.
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Crisil upgrades Reliance Petroleum Ltd
Mumbai: Reliance Petroleum has redeemed its triple option convertible debentures carrying a BBB+ (moderate safety with relatively higher standing within the category) rating. The company which is expected to come out with a Rs 150 crore debt issue shortly has now been assigned an AA (high safety) rating from Crisil.

Crisil's chief rating officer Ms. Roopa Kudva has confirmed that RPL had redeemed the instruments outstanding (non-convertible debentures and the TOCD), which carried the BBB+ rating. The upgrade factors in the commanding size of the RPL projects and the market position, besides the parentage of the AAA rated Reliance Industries Ltd.
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