The most profitable retail chain in India is a not for profit organisation

If someone asks you to guess the most profitable retail chain in India, names like Future Retail and Reliance Retail are bound to come to mind; however, the reality is far from this.

The retail chain whose earnings exceed all these private chains is the Canteen Stores Department (CSD), a not-for-profit organisation. As per a Right to Information query, during FY 2014-15, CSD earned Rs 236 crore, more than Rs 211 crore, the profits of Avenue Supermart, which runs D'Mart stores, and other popular chains like Future Retail (Rs 153 crore) and Reliance Retail (Rs 159 crore).

Talking of sales, CSD had Rs 13,709 crore as revenue, selling 5,300 products, ranging from biscuits and beer to shampoos and cars from across its stores. The number of customers it has goes as high as 12 million, including army, navy and air force personnel, ex-servicemen and their families.

CSD was started in 1948, and is managed by the defence ministry. The department runs 3,901 canteens and 34 depots, with more than 600 suppliers.

"CSD is definitely a critical channel. While we are not as focussed as we should be, there is a lot to be done to increase its contribution to our overall sales," Krishna Rao, deputy marketing manager at Parle Products told ET. "They expect a higher margin so they can pass on the benefit to the end-consumer."

The reason behind these high revenues could be low-priced products, possible because of the government letting go of a substantial amount of taxes.

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