Universal Construction Machinery and Equipment Ltd has entered into construction equipment retail business with the launch of Universal Exclusive Stores, in Patna, Bihar. The company plans to expand its business by launching few more exclusive stores in Kurukshetra, Surat, Nagpur, Jaipur and Hyderabad in the next 2-3 months. "And gradually, we will be inaugurating a total of 35 stores in next five years", said Ranjit More, managing director, Universal Construction Machinery and Equipment Ltd. The purpose of the Universal Exclusive Stores is to house all Universal Brands under one roof. The stores will also be by franchisees. "Bihar is currently on a growth path with a lot of infrastructure projects being undertaken. These include roads, bridges, etc. Also because of these projects local labour and labour contractors are returning back to Bihar. We thought that this was the right time to launch retail business in Bihar. Apart from sales, service and spares, we would also conduct workshops and onsite training camps. We have also launched equipment buy back scheme in Bihar. The response for our initiatives is good. We already have 80 per cent market share for concrete equipments and 90 per cent market share for mini dumpers in Bihar. We expect to garner a business of 15-18 crore this year from Bihar", said More. Explaining his retail business in details, More said that the stores will be opened in metros as well as Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities and added that "Our retail format business is divided into three initiatives viz Universal Exclusive Stores, Universal Constore and Universal Signature Stores. Universal Signature Stores will host only the premium and high end equipments of Universal like batching plants and reversible drum mixers while Universal Constore outlets will host all the leading brands in construction equipment apart from Universal".