Mr. R.Subramanian, MD, Subhiksha has been unanimously appointed from amongst 250 industry stalwarts as the new Chairman of the Indian Retail Forum (IRF) for the year 2008. He succeeds Mr. V. Vaidyanathan, Executive Director, ICICI Bank Limited. His name was nominated by Mr. Bijou Kurien, President & CEO, Reliance Lifestyle Holdings, Mr. Sanjiv Goenka, Vice Chairman, RPG Group and Mr. B S Nagesh, MD, Shopper's Stop.

Accepting his new role, Mr. Subramanian said, “It is a true honor to be selected as Chairman of the IRF and I accept this with the wish to exceed expectations of all stakeholders. I aspire to make the IRF an intellectually stimulating and inspiring platform and look forward to working towards empowering the Indian retail sector with global best practices and take it to even greater heights.”

The Indian Retail Forum is scheduled to be held in Mumbai from September 16th to 18th, 2008 at The Renaissance Hotel.

Mr. V. Vaidyanathan, the outgoing Chairman of IRF in his introductory message said “As I hand over the reigns of the IRF to its new chairman, I am confident that Mr. Subramanian, with his visionary thinking and leadership skills will take this forum to newer heights. The unparalleled growth of his company Subhiksha despite a slowing economy is testimony to his ability in evolving a unique and India centric model. I welcome Mr. Subramanian as the new chairman of the IRF.”

Subramanian will chair the 2008 edition of the Magnum Opus of Indian retail, where over 3000 participants from across the globe - including retailers, retail support fraternity, mall developers, real estate developers, funders and delegates from industry would come together to understand and explore the world's most lucrative retail market. It would showcase the business of retail in the region to a global audience, with the objective of facilitating understanding about the retail business in India and encouraging investment in the same.

Subramanian would be heading the IRF at a crucial juncture when India is troubled by global issues of inflation, food scarcity, climate change and shifting geo-political landscape that impact the 'Aam Aadmi'. Some of the core issues to be taken up for deliberation in the forum would include innovative strategies in production & processes, reduction in wastages, value & quality addition, employment generation, remunerative income for farmers, hygiene and safety, price balancing mechanism with market expansion etc.

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Subhiksha is India’s largest retail chain today. Started by R. Subramanian(an IIT , IIM Aluminus) as a single store entity in South Chennai with the promise of consistently low prices on everything as its rock solid foundation, the Subhiksha brand today has grown to over 1,450 stores in 12 states and over 100 cities including Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Hyderabad, Bangalore, Pune, Ahmedabad, Chandigarh, Agra, Cochin, Kolkata etc. Its name inspires trust and its consumers rely on it through all times to deliver larger savings as compared to any other retail chain or stand alone mom and pop stores. Subhiksha focuses on the concept of constantly sustainable low pricing so that regular customers see the same low prices month after month (below MRP) and are able to buy with the assurance that they stand to save on any given basket of household goods on any day. Subhiksha currently operates 4 business verticals: Supermarket (Groceries), Fruits and Vegetables, Pharmaceuticals and telecom. Subhiksha Mobile stores constitute of 800 stores nationally. Subhiksha also plans to enter the consumer durables retailing arena with over 2 million sq ft over the next year anda half.