The Hindu : Business : Supplyco employees told to prepare for competition

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Friday, Jan 05, 2007
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Supplyco employees told to prepare for competition

Staff Reporter

Civil Supplies Minister lays foundation for hypermarket of Supplyco

KOCHI: Using bureaucrats to promote vested interests is the bane of civil administration, the Minister for Civil Supplies C. Divakaran said here on Thursday, as he called on employees of The Kerala State Civil Supplies Corporation (Supplyco) to gear up to meet multi-nationals and corporate houses in India that were posing big challenges in the retailing business.

The Minister was speaking after laying the foundation for the first hypermarket by Supplyco on the Corporation headquarters premises at Gandhi Nagar in the city.

He told the employees to consider themselves Supplyco employees and not Government employees so that the Corporation could effectively face any challenge. Supplyco's was the first venture in India by a public sector undertaking to enter the retailing business, the Minister said. He said that he was one to give freedom to the bureaucrats but at the same time warned against repeat of mistakes of the past.

He said that despite coming under criticism, Supplyco would continue to play its role in the retail market.

Mr. Divakaran referred to adverse criticism in the media and said that the ordinary people of the State would be left at the mercy of the big retailers if Supplyco did not operate effectively as private retailers dominated the market, he said. Supplyco will have three hypermarkets in the near future, in Kochi, Kottayam and Thiruvananthapuram, the Minister said. These are locations where the Corporation had its own land.

The target for the current financial year is Rs.1,000 crore and the Corporation is set to achieve this goal. During the next financial year, the turnover target is Rs.2,000 crore, he said.

Only with the Supplyco achieving Rs.5,000-crore turnover would its presence have a bigger impact on the market, said Dr. Jacob Thomas. He said that the mandate for the Corporation is to be an effective presence in the market to control prices of essential commodities.

Mercy Williams, Mayor of Cochin presided at the function. K. V. Thomas, MLA, inaugurated the function and Sebastian Paul, MP, was the chief guest.

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