From correspondents in Andhra Pradesh, India, 03:31 PM IST

After opening 11 retail stores here Friday for selling fruits, vegetables and groceries, Reliance Industries Ltd is now gearing up for entry into other products and segments of retail trade, company officials said.

Fast moving consumer goods, pharmaceuticals, apparel, footwear, household goods, consumer durables, IT products and services for insurance, entertainment are some of the areas the company intends to have a footprint in.

The new enterprise - being powered by group company Reliance Retail Ltd - will eventually reach across the country with future plans for discount stores, malls, supermarkets, hypermarkets, speciality stores and convenios.

'We have already finalised our consumer durables and lifestyle stores and plan to roll out the first pilot stores by March or April, next year,' said Raghu Pillai, president and chief executive of Reliance Retail.

'We are also in the process of finalising our plans for selling books, music and entertainment stores,' Pillai said, adding that Reliance Retail plans to set up 100 billion sq. ft. of retail space by 2011 as part of a $5.6 billion retail foray.

Reliance officials said they would in no way be a threat to the smaller mom-and-pop stores in the neighbourhood.

'Organised retail in no threat to small-scale traders and kirana shops. The size of Indian retail market is around $300 billion and growing at eight percent. It means an incremental increase of $24 to $25 billion every year,' said Pillai.

'We will only have a 10-12 percent of the total market size even if we invest $10 billion,' he said, adding Reliance Retail actually wanted to partner with small traders, farmers, shopkeepers and consumers for a win-win situation.

'We may also to set up separate outlets to source from small traders,' he said, adding that the partnership with farmers will improve productivity, as farmers can then access cutting-edge technologies and best farming practices.

(Staff Writer, © IANS)