Essar Group to invest Rs 1200 cr in telecom retail

Diversified business conglomerate Essar Group will invest Rs 1,200 crore (Rs 12 billion) over the next three years in its telecom retail venture and expects to earn a revenue of Rs 3,000 crore (Rs 30 billion).

"We will invest Rs 1,200 crore over the next three years to set up 2,500 'The MobileStore' outlets across the country," Essar Telecom Retail CEO Rajiv Agarwal told PTI.

The company would also increase its head count by over eight-fold to 10,000 in the next three years from the current 1,200.

With its aggressive expansion plans, the company aims to garner about 15 per cent market share in this space, with a top line of Rs 3,000 crore in the next three years, he added. The multi-service outlets,

The MobileStore, would offer handsets, mobile accessories, new connections, value-added services, after-sales

support and bill payment facilities. The company has already opened about 250 such outlets across the country.

"The country's mobile market stands at Rs 35,000 crore (Rs 350 billion) and is growing at an annual rate of 60 per cent. Of this huge market, we expect to have 10-15 per cent market share," Agarwal said.

"We are also looking at opening up of 4,000 touch points in the form of stores, kiosks and shop-in-shops," he added.

The stores would be set up in three formats -- large, medium and compact, besides shop-in-shops in malls and large retail outlets, he said, adding the outlets would also offer electronic products such as digital cameras, iPods and gaming devices.