Petrochemicals maker Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) notified that the company is planning to build a retail mart in Ahmedabad.
Home is where the heart is, especially for the Ambanis'. In yet another validation of this, Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Industries has chosen Ahmedabad to kick off its retailing debut in a little over a year.
The Ahmedabad operations, where Reliance has acquired part of the closed Advance Mill and more recently a sprawling bungalow on the posh CG Road, would be the first to take off in early 2007, ahead of similar projects to be taken up nationally, sources said.
Investments close to Rs 1,000 crore have been lined up over five years to open around 35 big and small malls in Ahmedabad, Vadodara, Surat, Rajkot, Bhavnagar and Jamnagar.
Though RIL's group President, Corporate Aaffairs, Parimal Nathwani, who is handling the land acquisition, did not comment, realty sources insist that the deal to acquire the CG Road bungalow was clinched in the last fortnight.
The Ahmedabad realty market has been abuzz for the last six months with news of Reliance officials on the prowl for land acquisition in various locations, a closely guarded secret. Realty sources say that company officials have been going about the acquisitions quietly because any leak leads to a hike in land prices.
Along with the mill, the CG Road property too will be in the race to house the first Reliance mall. While existing structures in the mill have already been demolished, the bungalow is also likely to come under the hammer shortly.
marketing@alchempro.com
