Reliance To Set Up New Logistics Hub In Madhya Pradesh To Support Ecommerce Plans

Reliance Group is reportedly planning to boost investments in Madhya Pradesh, after the recent meeting between Madhya Pradesh’s chief minister Kamal Nath and Reliance Industries chairman Mukesh Ambani.

According to a media report, Mukesh Ambani has said, “Reliance is willing to invest in battery manufacturing for the energy storage sector and MP is on top priority for this.” 

These investments by the Indian conglomerate might also include setting up of a global logistics hub in the state, the report added. Reliance is currently running a pilot of its online-offline hybrid retail venture, and has been reported to have set up its logistic hubs in Mumbai and Bengaluru.

According to the latest company announcement, Reliance Retail has a turnover of over 100K Cr in FY2019 and has more than 10K stores across India. The company attributed this growth in revenue to be primarily driven by aggressive store addition and spurt in same-store sales. 

The company claimed to be growing at a rate of nearly 10 stores per day in the last two years. Reliance Retail is said to have added a total of 2.8K stores to its tally during FY 2018-19. As on March 31, 2019, Reliance Retail recorded 10,415 operational retail stores in over 6.6K Indian towns and cities.

Reliance’s Retail Plans 

Earlier in July, Reliance Retail had started the pilot phase of its new commerce initiative — hybrid online-offline commerce. The differentiated business model will provide a technology platform for millions of small merchants across India to strengthen and grow their business, the company added. 

In 2018, Reliance had announced its foray into the ecommerce space with a hybrid online-offline model. Under this plan, the company had claimed to bring together 350 Mn customer footfalls at Reliance Retail stores, 307 Mn Jio connectivity customers and 30 Mn small merchants all over India who provide the last-mile physical market connectivity.

Later, Reliance Retail was also reportedly planning to use over 5.1K Jio point stores located across 5K cities and towns as delivery and collection points for its ecommerce venture.

While speaking at the 41st annual general meeting (AGM) last year, Reliance chairman Mukesh Ambani had also said that Reliance Retail will have a bigger opportunity in the ecommerce market by creating a hybrid online-offline model.

“Our new commerce platform will redefine retail in India by enabling all customers ─ rich or poor, whether at home or on mobile ─ to transition from simple shopping to personalised Immersive shopping experience,” he added.