Agriculturalists could soon breathe easy as the equipment that they use for farming would soon be made available in their neighborhood under one roof!!! Making this happen is Agrimart - the one stop retail chain format of Ratnagiri Impex Pvt Ltd, Bangalore and part of the Annapurna Group.
Ratnagiri Impex, which for a decade has been servicing the farm sector and mapped its various needs, has chalked an ambitious rural retail foray through Agrimart on a pan-India basis. Within the next three years it plans to roll out 300 Agrimart outlets nationally through strategic relationship with local partners.
Over the next 12 months the company plans to launch around 70 Agrimart outlets across Karnataka, Tamilnadu, Kerala and Andhra Pradesh, with the first outlet being dedicated to agriculturalists this week (August 8, 2009) at Davangere. The first phase entails a total investment of around Rs 14 crore, funded by Ratnagiri Impex and its partners.
Addressing a press conference here today, Vasudev Murthy, Chairman and Managing Director, Ratnagiri Impex Pvt Ltd said, “We have been working with agriculturalists for several decades and understand their pain points. Invariably the agriculturalists travel to major cities not only for sourcing agri-equipment, but also for after sales service and spare parts. Most importantly in the current dealer centric environment, training in the usage of equipment is not provided”.
Agrimart is an answer to the compelling needs of agriculturalists, he said and pointed out these rural retail marts would make available all agri equipment under one roof, provide training in the usage of equipment by well trained personal, offer spares & after sales service – all under one roof in the agriculturalists neighborhood. The Agrimart besides displaying products would also offer demonstration of the equipment and help manufacturers reach out to the agriculturalists directly.
According to S A Gopalakrishna, Technical Director, Ratnagiri Impex Pvt Ltd, “Agrimart is a well thought initiative to serve agriculturalists in an effective manner. Taking appropriate equipment to the agriculturalists would help the sector modernize, improve productivity & yield and rationalize production cost”.
Further, he said, with agri-labour shortage looming large and their wages spiraling over the last few years, increased usage of farming equipment is the need of the hour. We are placed uniquely to promote the usage of equipment and Agrimart would be the perfect vehicle to reach out to the rural masses right in their neighborhood.
“We have identified local partners in around 70 centers across south India and these marts would become operational in less than 12 months, commented, Chandra Mohan, Marketing Director, Ratnagiri Impex Pvt Ltd”. Also he said Agrimart would essentially be operated by franchisee partners with Ratnagiri Impex providing strategic, technical, marketing, training and logistic support.
The layout of these marts has been standardized and each of these marts would reflect the ambience of rural India. According to Chandra Mohan display area in each Agrimart would be around 1,000 to 1,200 sq ft with warehousing and service centre. Also he said agricultural equipment from global manufacturers including Oleo-Mac, Alrite, Agrimate, unigreen, Honda-engine, Coima, Aima and Comet would be on display.
Ratnagiri Impex, which for a decade has been servicing the farm sector and mapped its various needs, has chalked an ambitious rural retail foray through Agrimart on a pan-India basis. Within the next three years it plans to roll out 300 Agrimart outlets nationally through strategic relationship with local partners.
Over the next 12 months the company plans to launch around 70 Agrimart outlets across Karnataka, Tamilnadu, Kerala and Andhra Pradesh, with the first outlet being dedicated to agriculturalists this week (August 8, 2009) at Davangere. The first phase entails a total investment of around Rs 14 crore, funded by Ratnagiri Impex and its partners.
Addressing a press conference here today, Vasudev Murthy, Chairman and Managing Director, Ratnagiri Impex Pvt Ltd said, “We have been working with agriculturalists for several decades and understand their pain points. Invariably the agriculturalists travel to major cities not only for sourcing agri-equipment, but also for after sales service and spare parts. Most importantly in the current dealer centric environment, training in the usage of equipment is not provided”.
Agrimart is an answer to the compelling needs of agriculturalists, he said and pointed out these rural retail marts would make available all agri equipment under one roof, provide training in the usage of equipment by well trained personal, offer spares & after sales service – all under one roof in the agriculturalists neighborhood. The Agrimart besides displaying products would also offer demonstration of the equipment and help manufacturers reach out to the agriculturalists directly.
According to S A Gopalakrishna, Technical Director, Ratnagiri Impex Pvt Ltd, “Agrimart is a well thought initiative to serve agriculturalists in an effective manner. Taking appropriate equipment to the agriculturalists would help the sector modernize, improve productivity & yield and rationalize production cost”.
Further, he said, with agri-labour shortage looming large and their wages spiraling over the last few years, increased usage of farming equipment is the need of the hour. We are placed uniquely to promote the usage of equipment and Agrimart would be the perfect vehicle to reach out to the rural masses right in their neighborhood.
“We have identified local partners in around 70 centers across south India and these marts would become operational in less than 12 months, commented, Chandra Mohan, Marketing Director, Ratnagiri Impex Pvt Ltd”. Also he said Agrimart would essentially be operated by franchisee partners with Ratnagiri Impex providing strategic, technical, marketing, training and logistic support.
The layout of these marts has been standardized and each of these marts would reflect the ambience of rural India. According to Chandra Mohan display area in each Agrimart would be around 1,000 to 1,200 sq ft with warehousing and service centre. Also he said agricultural equipment from global manufacturers including Oleo-Mac, Alrite, Agrimate, unigreen, Honda-engine, Coima, Aima and Comet would be on display.
