Hyderabad on Friday saw the new dawn of a new revolution. Reliance Industries Ltd’s dreams of a retail revolution got kick-started in the Andhra Pradesh capital when its Reliance Fresh supermart opened its doors to the world. And, several hundred customers flocked to try out what all are on offer on the first day.

The inauguration event saw customers cut red ribbons to open the store widely believed as Reliance Industries Ltd’s first in the series of several thousand stores that are to come. Following the first, the company opened 10 more on Friday as a first step towards creating a mega retail chain across the country.

The Reliance Fresh supermarket chain is RIL’s Rs 25,000 crore venture and it plans to add more stores across different geographies, and eventually have a pan-India footprint by year 2011.
The super marts will sell fresh fruits and vegetables, staples, groceries, fresh juice bars and dairy products and also will sport a separate enclosure and supply-chain for non-vegetarian products.

Besides, the stores would provide direct employment to 5 lakh young Indians and indirect job opportunities to a million people, according to the company. The company also has plans to train students and housewives in customer care and quality services for part-time jobs.

Currently, selling through company-owned stores currently totals just $8 billion in India. Industry estimates say that the country’s retail industry is worth $300 billion, that is about Rs 13,50,000 crore. This stands a chance to blossom to $427 billion in the next four years. Organised retail accounts for just over Rs 35,000 crore. Reliance Fresh bids to tap the potential for organised retail in the country.

The opening of Reliance’s retail chains closely follows the moves of global players like Wal-Mart Stores Inc and Metro AG seeking to open shop here in the country. With Reliance announcing plans to expand, and that too rapidly, the retail scenario in the country is all set to take off in a big way.