DANUBE BUILDMART RETAIL COMPLEX IN MUMBAI

Rizwan Sajan, chairman, Danube Building Materials, and Adel Sajan, director, Danube Buildmart, at the opening of a Buildmart branch in Mumbai last Friday. Danube Building Materials, retailer of construction, building materials and shop-fitting industries, said yesterday it opened its first Danube Buildmart branch at the Oberoi Mall in Mumbai, India, on June 25.

The Dh10 million, 6,000 square foot retail facility is the company’s 20th global store.At present, there are nine Danube Buildmart branches in operation, as a result of the company’s Dh200 million expansion plan to grow its flagship retail brand to a total of 16 branches by the end of 2010.Present during the event were Rizwan Sajan, chairman; Anis Sajan, managing director, both of Danube Building Materials; Adel Sajan, director, Danube Buildmart, and other senior officials.Danube said it will be bringing its products to the Indian market, including its high-end sanitaryware, chandeliers, wallpapers, parquet flooring, curtains, carpets, ceramic floor, wall tiles, home decor and many lifestyle products.In addition, free in-house home interior designing consultancy services will be made available for customers in the new branch.

The opening of the new Buildmart branch complements recent reports that India’s economy is expected to grow by 7.5 per cent from 2010 to 2011 and by eight per cent the following year.”We are very excited with the opening of our Buildmart branch, which not only represents our initial foray into India but also poses excellent opportunities given the Indian economy’s rapid growth and strong consumer market,” said Rizwan Sajan.”This milestone underlines the success of our massive expansion plan, and sets a precedent to our future investments in other progressive markets across the globe.”After the launch, we will be undertaking steps to entrench our presence further into other GCC construction hotspots, including Abu Dhabi, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Oman.”In addition to the new facility in India, there are 15 other Danube retail facilities in the UAE, plus two in Oman, one each in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia and the company has procurement offices in China and Canada.It has also invested Dh50 million in a new 1.3 million square foot manufacturing facility in TechnoPark.which will be functional by early 2011.