Thursday, January 08, 2009

3I INFOTECH TO PUMP RS 155 CRORE FOR 12,400 STORES IN RURAL INDIA

Mumbai
The Economic Times DNA Mint The Hindu

Global IT firm 3i Infotech will invest about Rs 155 crore in setting up 12,400 retail stores of its I-SERV brand in rural areas of nine states by end- December, offering insurance and telecom-related services.

The software provider's main focus is to offer telecom and insurance-related services, for which it has tied up with insurance companies ICICI Lombard and Max New York Life and telecom service provider Airtel.

"The capital expenditure on each of our 12,400 stores is between Rs 1-1.25 lakh. This will be funded from internal accruals," 3i Infotech Executive Director & President - South Asia, Anirudh Prabhakaran said.

The company's total spend on all 12,400 stores thus comes to Rs 124 crore-155 crore.

"It's a win-win win situation for the rural consumers, the partners as well as the I-SERV stores," Prabhakaran said on the alliance.

3i Infotech is setting up the stores across nine states and Union Territories, which include Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Goa, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Delhi.

"There will be one store for every 3-6 villages, which would service about 3,000-18,000 people," he said, adding that nearly 700 stores in Haryana and Gujarat have already commenced operations.

The company would set up 2,000 stores by March-end. He, however, did not offer revenue and profit projections.

"It would take us more than 18 months to break-even," he said..

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