Bata plans Rs 80-100 cr capex; Rs 20 cr for Batanagar plant

Bata India has lined up capital expenditure of Rs 80-100 crore each for the next years for modernising plants, retail and marketing.

"We have a capex plan for Rs 80-100 crore each year for the next 2-3 years. It will be utilised towards plant modernisation, investing in existing and new stores and other marketing spends," Bata India Managing Director and CEO Rajeev Gopalakrishnan told reporters here today on the sidelines of the company's AGM.

Batanagar, the oldest plant of Bata India, would be modernised at a cost of Rs 20 crore over the next two years.

Bata Director, Finance, R K Gupta said Rs 8 crore and Rs 12 crore would be spent on modernisation of Batanagar plant this fiscal and next, respectively. The plant would be modernised with a capacity expansion of about 10 percent.

Bata India had joined hands with Riverbank Developers and handed over 237 acres of land from Batanagar.

Speaking about online strategy, Gupta said the company was planning exclusive range for etailing and was aiming to shoot up its online share to 5 percent in 3-4 years from 1.5 percent now.

The company was also planning an omni-channel presence with the installation of 'online kiosks' in some of the major retail stores, Bata India Chairman, Uday Khanna said.

The company has already launched a 'Click and Collect' option on the Bata website.

"Customers can now shop for the entire range of products available online, choose any product and get it delivered from the local Bata store as convenient for them," he said.