Godrej Aadhaar, the agri-services and retail initiative of Godrej Agrovet, has announced the opening of two new large-format retail stores in the prosperous western state of Gujarat.

Stating this, a company release on www.agencyfaqs.com  says the stores are located at Kamrej and Kim near India's diamond trade centre, Surat. This was announced by Mr. R. S. Vijan, Executive Vice-President, Godrej Agrovet, in Ahmedabad. This is for the first time Godrej Aadhaar will be venturing into Gujarat in the large formats after the successful launches in Maharashtra and Punjab .

With 16 months of its launch, Godrej Aadhaar has grown to a chain of 24 centres across the country, providing a host of services and facilities to the rural population. Godrej Agrovet is now keen on expanding its wings to the retailing sector in a big way. Moving away from the stand-alone format, the company has decided to focus mainly on a 'hub and spoke model' to further expand the Aadhaars in the rural and semi-urban markets.

Godrej Agrovet belongs to the Rs 6,500-crore Godrej Group and is a key player in the Indian agricultural sector. With a turnover of more than Rs 900 crore, the company employs more than 1,600 employees and has over 40 manufacturing and processing facilities across India. It's a market leader in animal feeds, innovative agri products and oil palm development in India.

Aadhar's new-format stores sprawl over an area of around 6,500 sq.ft. at Kamrej and 3,000 sq.ft at Kim.

They offer not only complete agricultural solutions and products to farmers, but also a wide range of commodities, which include food, grocery, apparel, footwear, home appliances, furniture, kitchenware and hardware to meet the requirements of India's vast rural population.

A host of services such as banking, insurance, pharmacy, postal and petrol pumps have also been planned to make Aadhaar a destination point for all conveniences. Recently, Godrej Aadhaar had signed a memorandum of understanding with Apollo Pharmacy, part of the Apollo Hospitals and India's largest retail pharmacy chain.

The new-generation Aadhaars will provide the convenience of shopping under one roof to a major segment of the farmer community. Farmers will not only get value for money, but also be able to avail of value-added services like facilities for long-distance telephony, photocopying, fax, Internet access, banking, electronic money transfers and even tailoring.

For the complete media release, go to www.agencyfaqs.com

( http://www.agencyfaqs.com/news/company_news/Corporate/8986.html )