Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh to revamp ration shops with Future Group
What's the story
Indian FMCG giant Future Group is in talks with Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh to help revive and revamp the states' fair price shops. The company is already involved in completing a full revamp of Rajasthan's fair price shops. The ongoing project will see the state's 5,000 ration shops given a facelift by end of September. The project is part of a public-private partnership.
About
Future Group
Future Group is one of the India's biggest conglomerates, with diversified interests across retail, consumer and FMCG sectors. The company has charted significant growth in India through popular brands such as Big Bazaar and Brand Factory. Future Group has multiple partnerships with companies such as Staples and Celio. Across its various companies, Future Group serves over 300 million customers every year.
Information
What are fair price shops?
Fair price shops are those stores that enable distribution of necessities and other commodities such as sugar, rice, wheat and oil to the public across the country. These shops, popularly known as ration shops, are located in most states in the country.
Rebranding
How is Future Group looking to developing the ration shops?
With Kishore Biyani's Future Group scaling growth across retails and consumer sectors in the country, the business has not forayed much into remote zones. Most stores under the company are located in accessible towns and cities. The tie-up with the state governments would enable the company to make its way into inaccessible towns, while the government benefits from developing their distressed ration shops.
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Biyani eyeing more states
"We are almost through with 5,000 stores in Rajasthan (and) after that we will take another state," Kishore Biyani said, stating that two other states had expressed interest in adopting this model.
Contribution
Future Group's involvement in Rajasthan's ration shops
Apart from reviving the ration shops, Future Group has also experimented with supplying products, training the labour force and computerizing the shops. Ration shops stack up only necessities, while Future Group's involvement has seen the shops sport a new look and selling 250 other types of consumer products. It has enabled the company to sell its own brands, priced lower than market prices.