Aditya Birla Retail — To be among the leading players

18 May 2007

"Our mission is to change the way people shop. We will give them more." says Mr. Kumar Mangalam Birla

Mr. Kumar Mangalam Birla, Chairman, Aditya Birla Group, today unveiled the brand name under which the Group's retail business will operate —"more.".

Addressing the media in Mumbai, Mr. Birla said, "We believe that the Indian consumer today is underserved. Even though we have many shopping outlets in India, many of them do not offer the kind of shopping experiences that people in most other parts of the world are used to, and even take for granted. As a result, spends by Indian consumers on their day-to-day needs and special shopping occasions are much less than they ought to be."

"Part of the reason for the underdevelopment of the Indian shopping environment is the lack of suitable infrastructure — whether it be the lack of economically viable real estate, a developed supply chain, the availability of trained manpower or backward linkages with suppliers. Our mission is to change the way people shop. We will give the Indian consumers a fundamentally better shopping experience. We will offer them more. than what they expect. Hence the brand — more.", averred Mr. Birla.

"We intend to be among the leading players in India," stated Mr. Birla. Elaborating on Aditya Birla Retail's strategy, he said that they would provide multi-shopping formats, a series of conveniently located neighbourhood supermarkets that would stock the daily and weekly household shopping needs and destination hypermarkets that cater to monthly and event-based shopping needs. The Group envisions having a national presence with both these formats in the not-so-distant future.

Mr. Birla announced that the first supermarkets under the more. brand name would open shortly in Pune and then quickly expand to other major cities in India.

Aditya Birla Retail intends to differentiate itself by providing very competitive prices and the right s;election of products in a friendly and exciting environment. Over time, they will be developing their own products.

To ensure the freshest supply of fruits and vegetables to customers, the company is building linkages directly with the farmers. They are also in the process of architecting a supply chain to connect households more directly to farmers and towards this invest appropriately in backend infrastructure.

In January this year, the Group had acquired Trinethra Super Retail which has given them more than half a million square feet of selling area and a strong presence in the supermarket business in the four southern states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Kerala, where it is the No.1 retailer.

Plans to increase its penetration in the south and initiate a pan-India roll-out are on the anvil. Across all of Aditya Birla Retail's formats, the brand name will be common, i.e. more.

The company does not intend having a joint venture partner given that the Aditya Birla Group has the necessary competencies inhouse. The investment in retail will not be out of any of the listed companies in the Aditya Birla Group, informed Mr. Birla.

Mr. Sumant Sinha, the CEO of the retail business said, "more. is an aspirational brand for an aspirational country. We have a bright and committed, enthusiastic team that represents the best experience from India and globally. Already on board are Mr. Andrew Denby to head the supermarkets, and Mr. Russell Berman, for the hypermarkets. We are all very excited about our business"