Gitanjali plans to invest $75 mn in UAE for expansion

Dubai, May 29 (PTI) India's jewellery retailer Gitanjali Group is planning to invest up to $75 million (around Rs 414 crore) in increasing its number of outlets in the UAE to 110 within two years. "We are opening a series of stores in the UAE... We have 50 shop-in-shop contracts all over the UAE. We want to be in 110 shops in the UAE within one and a half years time," Gitanjali Chairman and founder Mehul Choksi told 'Arabian Business'. "It is a total investment of up to $50 million to $75 million over the next two years," Choksi said. The company is also planning to expand the brand into Saudi Arabia and is looking at opportunities in Qatar, Kuwait and Bahrain, he added. The expansion is likely to create around 75 new jobs over the next two years. The brand is aimed at the expatriate Indian market, but Choksi said it will also seek to launch products targeting the Arab market. "We have been familiar with the market... We have been working very closely with the UAE for the past 15 years," he said. Gitanjali's net sales for the full year ended March 2012 rose 33 per cent to Rs 12,498.3 crore ($2.257 billion), with jewellery sales up 40 per cent to Rs 7,007.5 crore ($1.265 billion) during the same period. Gitanjali Group has an annual turnover of over $2.1 billion and has around 4,000 points of sale in India, with additional outlets in China, the US, Japan and the UK. The company was founded in 1966. PTI