Beginning with a company-owned, 10,000 sq ft gallery at Andheri in Mumbai and a 5,000-sqft showroom in Goa, and an investment of Rs 35 crore in the first phase to manufacture patented Prolene furniture at Rajkot in Gujarat, Ramboo India will market the Ramboo brand in South Asia, the Middle East and Europe. (The Americas and African region are addressed by manufacturing facilities in Mexico and Kenya). Says MS Bhandari, president, Ramboo India: ``We are expecting a turnover of Rs 50 crore and a network of 45 showrooms in a couple of years. Nearly 50 per cent of our turnover will be accounted by exports.'' Ramboo India has already bagged a Rs 5 crore export order from Liverpool, UK.

The Ramboo network of showrooms will have a mix of company-owned and franchised operations. The major investment will be in acquiring space-the 10,000 sqft area in Andheri is costing Rs 1 crore in annual rentals-while the inventory will be around Rs 5 lakh.

In addition to targeting the household segment through a network of showrooms, Ramboo India will also build a salesforce of 40 and a team of five interior designers to tap the institutional segment comprising hotels and restaurants, corporate guest houses, clubs, entertainment centres and farmhouses.

Positioned as `Beauty which Lasts', the Rs 200-crore Ramboo brand is offered as an eco-friendly substitute to traditional wooden and cane furniture. The Prolene technology is claimed to make furniture withstand the vagaries of weather. Ramboo furniture-chairs, sofa sets, dining table, loungers and beds-come in 25 colours in the price-range of Rs 2,500 to Rs 1.5 lakh. Says Bhandari, ``Being rain-proof, sunlight-proof, mis-use proof and termite-proof, the Prolene furniture are a life-time concept with no maintenance and breakage costs.''

Ramboo has chalked out a city-based advertising roll out-for the Mumbai market it will spend Rs 50 lakh in next two months-to cover the west, north and south markets. It has also started advertising in interior and architecture magazines; and will soon take position inspecialised portals.