RailEnquiry

NEW DELHI: InterGlobe, which owns budget carrier IndiGo, is now making a foray into retailing at Metro stations and on highways. Its subsidiary InterGlobe Retail has started opening shops at Delhi Metro stations with an investment of Rs 20-22 crore, and toll highways are next on the list. Carrying the US chain of stores under brand name 'Hudson News and Cafe', these stores would be offering travel essentials like food items and magazines.InterGlobe had tied up with Swiss firm Dufry (which owns the brand name Hudson) to bid for duty free shops at Indian airports. While it has so far not opened any duty free shop and will bid for the new Mumbai airport, the group decided to use this franchise at Delhi Metro Rail Corp (DMRC) and highways. Moreover, airport duty free area bidding is a long-term affair and the InterGlobe-Dufry combine did not want to wait for years to make a start in India."About 20 shops have already opened at Metro stations and we will have 40 stores in the next two to three months. We have a 15-year concessionaire period with Delhi Metro for these stores. We are also going to have these stores at toll highways. They will meet the requirement of travellers by providing reading material, confectionaries and other impulse buying stuff," InterGlobe Retail director, Siddhanta Sharma, said.

While the group won't have a store on the Anil Ambani-controlled Airport Express Line (which is currently closed for safety fears), there will be a shop on the Sector 21 Dwarka station's regular DMRC line. Like Metros abroad, the group estimates that 3-4% of people using Metro stations would be using these stores. As of now, the InterGlobe Group has no plans of bidding for stores at airports, railway stations or highways abroad. For that, global company Dufry will tie up with local companies.

InterGlobe's IndiGo airline is the biggest budget carrier. Last month, its domestic market share was 26% — just snapping short of Jet-JetKonnect's combined share of 27.4%. While the airline gives it visibility, the group controls almost all aviation-related activities like running a bus travel agency and providing software for selling air tickets to airlines.