Essar Hypermart, the retail chain for steel products of Essar Steel, is making plans to increase the total number of its outlets.

While addressing media people, Girish Rao, CEO, Essar Hypermart stated that the plan was to open 776 outlets by March 2011 from the existing 520.

Rao said that hypermart was a ground-breaking scheme by Essar Steel to make steel available to consumers near to the user point.

The steel retail chain was addressing the needs of the customers ranging from small fabricators, local producers and general engineering companies to big corporations and building firms.

The hypermart was providing hot rolled products, chequered plates, shot blasted plates and cold rolled coils and sheets.

To stretch its range, the retail chain had rolled out colour coated sheets and coils to meet up the increasing demand of the budding high value roofing section.

In addition, it had rolled out wider plate mill to fulfill the special requirements of heavy fabrications section. The hypermart accounted for 25% of Essar Steel's twelve monthly income.

In Tamil Nadu and Puducherry, Essar Hypermart had 44 outlets and this number would be taken to 58 by March next year (2011).