New Delhi, April 1: Pantaloon Retail (India) Ltd plans to raise Rs 900 crore to set up stores across the country.

“We are looking at divesting some of our subsidiaries to raise around Rs 900 crore to fuel our expansion plans,” said Kishore Biyani, managing director of Pantaloon.

The company plans to have around 50 outlets in India. The focus will be on Tier II and Tier III cities. However, the stores in metros will continue to contribute nearly 75 per cent to the company’s topline, said Biyani.

“We are adding economic growth of $80 billion to $100 billion every year and it is creating a consumption market of $40 billion every year. Now is the time to understand your formats, learn about your consumers and make them spend,” he said.

The Mumbai-based company plans to sell its stakes in e-commerce, media and capital units, Biyani said. Spinning off some of its retail businesses into separate companies and then selling stakes in them will raise between Rs 600 crore and Rs 900 crore, he added.

Sales at Pantaloon increased 68 per cent to Rs 21.1 billion in the eight months ended February 28. Sales through store chains are expected to reach as much as 35 per cent of retail sales by 2015, up from about 3 per cent now, according to Wal-Mart.

Biyani is also aiming a presence in the cash-and-carry (wholesale) business to take on Reliance and Wal-Mart on all fronts.

Reliance and Bharti have ambitious plans in the hypermarket and hard discount formats. They are likely to roll out dedicated cash-and-carry operations to cater to front-end retail soon.

Industry experts said cash & carry is likely to see a lot of action in the coming times, with many international retailers — including Carrefour, Tesco and K-Mart — firming up plans in this direction.