Reliance retail is sowing big plans

New Delhi: Reliance loves big plans, but it is betting that farmers and consumers will love this one now.

It has charted out a model procuring-cum-processing hub that will turn out to be a hotbed of activity, a one-stop shop for farmers.

These hubs will offer farmers inputs such as fertiliser, machinery, training and even financial support like crop loans and insurance. Then farmers can bring in their produce, which the hub will buy.

Then comes post-harvest management. The group will set up cold chains and green houses to process agricultural produce. And finally, farm fresh fruit vegetable and dairy products will travel to Reliance's own retail shelves.

Reliance has already bought 700 acres of land in Punjab for Rs 50 crore and the first hub will take off in June.

Reliance will set up six such rural hubs in Punjab and replicate them in West Bengal, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and Gujarat in the next four to six months.

The buzz is that Pantaloons is working on a similar model, setting up farm input malls in rural areas. Pantaloon is estimated to be seeing the highest attrition rate of between 35 and 40 per cent, and Piramyd's about 20 per cent, followed by Lifestyle and Shopper's Stop.

Reliance Retail has been responsible for a large chunk of those percentages. Reliance Retail has gone on a shopping spree, picking up about a thousand mid-level retail professionals like store operators and merchandisers.

Reliance and others might look at tapping local retailers as the manpower crunch worsens. But others feel kiranawalas lack the skill sets for modern retail trade.

Even so, Reliance Retail, which is out to change the face of retail in India, might find a way around that too.