The retail arm of Triveni Engineering and Industries, which is focused on the rural areas, is reportedly on the block. The owners of the company have decided to either divest the venture or offer controlling stake to prospective buyers. Triveni Retail's rural superstore chain is called Triveni Khushali Bazaar and has presence across mainly North India. Triveni Engineering, which is involved in manufacturing of sugar and engineered-to-order mechanical equipment, now plans to focus on its core business.
The investment bankers for Triveni have sent feelers to Future Group, Aditya Birla, ADAG and Reliance Retail for the retail venture, reports Economic Times.
India's rural retail market is expected to grow by 29% to 1.8 trillion rupees by 2010 helped by rising incomes and changing consumption patterns, a CII-Yes Bank report said. many players in the retail segment are keenly eyeing this segement. Future Group and Reliance Retail are planning to set their foot in this segment. Future Group has already entered this segment by acquiring a 70% stake in Godrej's rural retail entity Aadhar. It is now being used as a procurement hub for the Future Group's retail formats such as Food Bazaar and KB's Fair Price.
Triveni Khushali Bazaar has over has over 42 stores across 25 towns, primarily in northern India. The product offerings in these outlets include agri-inputs, cattle feed, cycle, plastic furniture, FMCGs, automobiles, etc. Triveni's stores have two formats - a larger format with area of 4,000 sq. ft and smaller with 800 sq. ft area. The larger requires an investment of Rs 30 lakh, while smaller can be set up at a cost of Rs 10 lakh.
Some other players in this field are ITC Choupal Sagar, DCM Shriram's Hariyali Kisaan Bazaar and IOC's Kisan Seva Kendras.
