The SRS Group, one of India's leading business conglomerates with interests in the real estate, retail and entertainment businesses, has announced its definitive plans to invest Rs. 1,000 crore over the next three years. This investment outlay shall be sourced from a mix of debt and equity, which includes an initial public offering (IPO) by the end of current fiscal (2008-2009).

Of the proposed investment of Rs 1,000 crores, Rs 500 crores shall be invested in the expansion of the retail business, Rs 350 crores in the expansion of the exhibition business (multiplex cinemas), and the balance Rs 150 crores shall be invested in the expansion of the food & beverage (F&B) business over the next three years. 

Dr. Anil Jindal, Chairman of the SRS Group, said, "We are extremely proud to have carved a niche for ourselves in various highly competitive domains primarily dominated by large business houses. Our strategy to focus on tier-2 cities has paid rich dividends as our revenues touched Rs. 700 crores during the last fiscal and all of our business divisions registered healthy growth. Our vision and professional management have enabled the Group to achieve a CAGR of over 30% for the last several years consistently. We aim to further expand our operations, reach out to more B and C class cities and consolidate our position across different verticals in the years to come."

The SRS Group, as of now, has 35 organized retail outlets in its portfolio and intends to increase this number to 100 by the end of current fiscal. The total area under retail operation is expected to be around 15, 00,000 square feet by the end of the year 2009. This includes the retail store chain under the brand name SRS Value Bazaar. Currently, 32 SRS Value Bazaars with an average area of 4,000 sq. ft. each are operational in different cities in northern India. The SRS Group will open 16 new Value Bazaars every month. It has signed lease agreements for over 50 locations with leading developers like Omaxe, Chadha Group etc. The SRS Group also plans to build and operate 15 metro-based hyper markets with an area of 50,000-80,000 sq. ft. each. It shall further strengthen its retail stores business with a new neighborhood store format called SRS Daily Bazaar, which will purvey daily necessities and will be spread across a comparatively smaller area of 500 sq feet. About 25 Daily Bazaar outlets will be opened in the NCR by the end of the year 2008. Besides this, the SRS Group aims to retail agricultural products under the brand name SRS Kisaan Bazaar in rural areas.

According to Mr. Tinku Singh, President of the SRS Group, "Our business model is focused on ensuring that consumers can procure their daily needs in close proximity to their homes, at competitive prices and we are confident that the trend of shopping at organized retail outlets will catch on in the tier-2 cities in a big way within the next couple of years."

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