GROUP RELATED NEWS
|
Lunch With BS: Urvi Piramal
|
Urvi`s 'real' world
Ashok Piramal group's chairperson shares
her passion for wildlife and plans for her company's retail venture over sukuidofu
and aona goma ae.
When she's not at the tiger sanctuary in Tadoba, trying
to make life easier for the tigers, she's working on her next real estate project.
Or figuring out where the new Trumart stores should be located. That's Urvi Piramal
for you, chairperson of the Ashok Piramal group of firms, grandmother of three
and who, given half a chance, would live in a forest. But don't be fooled even
for a moment, she can be a hard-nosed businesswoman when she wants and has steered
the group through some difficult times, writes Business Standard.
The lady is a self-confessed foodie and so has little trouble making up her
mind when I ask where she wants to go for 'Lunch with BS'. Wasabi, the Japanese
restaurant at the Taj, is the restaurant she picks.
We find ourselves
a table by the window, thrilled with the magnificent view of the Arabian Sea,
and ask for edamame 'salted greens, much like peas' to nibble on. The starter,
sukuidofu (tofu with fresh wasabi and dashi syrup) arrives and is excellent. Piramal,
a wildlife enthusiast, talks of how she's working with the state government to
improve conditions at the Tadoba tiger sanctuary, near Nagpur. The forest is being
regenerated and several villages, which are within the boundaries of the sanctuary,
are being relocated to prevent poaching. 'I enjoy photographing wildlife too and
I love being in the forest, particularly Ranthambhor or Kaziranga,' she says.
Work is another of her passions, says Piramal, wife of the late Ashok
Piramal, who has nurtured the business for over two decades now. Recently, she
divided the business among her three sons, so that 'each of them has something
to focus on'. Why did you sell Crossroads, I ask. Piramal says talks are still
on, pointing out that the idea really is to develop and sell at the right time.
'When we set up the mall seven years ago, 1.5 lakh sq feet was difficult to fill,
now people are building malls on 3-10 lakh square feet. So, the small format may
not work today,' she explains.
But, isn't the value likely to appreciate,
I ask. Well, she says, whether it's a commercial or residential project, one can't
always sell at the peak. Currently, rates in the area range Rs 15,000 -25,000
per sq foot, compared with around Rs 10,000 seven years ago. What's her view on
real estate prices in the city? 'While there is no doubt a lot of supply, especially
with the mill land coming into the market, there is enough demand too. So, while
there could be some adjustment, I don't believe there will be a major correction,'
she notes, adding that prices are unlikely to go up from these levels. Piramal
feels that this time round, there are many more genuine buyers who will live in
the houses rather than merely invest, which is why prices should sustain.
The group has built up a land bank of 14 million sq feet, some of which it
owns 'it has some land from Morarjee Mills and some from Dawn Mills, which it
recently bought. The rest has been acquired through joint ventures (Swan Mills)
and also from land allocated to it for three special economic zones in Goa. There's
also a villa project in Goa.' We've managed to get land at reasonably good prices,
but the challenge is to be 'quick in, quick out',' she observes.
The
main course arrives, aona goma ae (spinach with sesame sauce) for the lady and
fish for me with some Japanese style fried rice. Why is it, I ask, that progress
with the retail venture has been so slow, despite a relatively early start? 'We've
been slow because we've been testing our model and had to make changes,' she says.
The store in Pune, she explains, which was double the size of the Bombay store,
needed many more categories for it to attract the right customers. The model is
one in which store labels account for just 8 per cent, while national and international
brands account for the rest. However, Piramal says store labels would account
for 20 per cent of revenues in a couple of years. 'We are trying to fill the gaps
and will increase the share of store labels, especially in the ladies segment,'
she observes, saying that margins should improve this year. Having found the right
model, Piramyd, which has just under 5 lakh sq feet of retail space, today, hopes
to grow this to over 9 lakh square feet in a year. The company is in the red with
losses of Rs 7.5 crore at the end of March 2006.
We pore over the dessert
menu. She suggests the green tea flavoured ice-cream for me and settles for some
fruit. Piramal believes that allowing FDI in the retail space should be done at
a measured pace and that there should be a level-playing field, so that home-grown
retailers don't face problems. 'The pie will expand with more players and that's
good,' she believes, pointing out how the farm sector in China has benefited.
Commenting on the entry of big money into the sector, Piramal says the important
thing would be to have a clear niche and differentiated products, besides, she
feels that real estate in Tier II cities, is still affordable. Piramal obviously
believes in taking the battle right into the enemy camp: Piramyd will be soon
opening a store in Kolkata's Camac Street mall, where Pantaloon and Westside are
the anchor stores.
Piramal also plans to use the group's garment manufacturing
strengths to grow the retail business, especially in the women's wear segment.
That apart, Morarjee Mills, the textiles firm, is on the lookout for some international
brands in menswear. 'We already export a lot of shirting fabric and some of the
best brands use our material. For instance, Zodiac and Cottons by Century use
our fabric and we would like to reach out to new markets and customers, so that
we can build scale and improve our margins,' she observes. She's obviously not
yet willing to hang up her boots, though she does treasure time with her three
grandchildren. I will take you see the flamingoes near Sewri, she promises.
Source:
Business Standard, June 21, 2006
|
| Previous I Next |
| |
| Back to Archives |
Back to Top |
|
|
 |
View
our collection of our news articles and company events.
|
| Our archive provides you with information
on all our company news, events and happenings. |
|
|
