Delhi-based Vishal Retail said Wednesday it plans to invest Rs 200 crore (Rs 2 billion) to set up 40 additional stores mostly in northern India.

"In addition to 53 stores that we have at the moment across 41 cities, we want to put up 40 more in the current fiscal year entailing Rs 200 crore investment," Vishal Retail Managing Director Ramchandra Aggarwal told PTI.

The company would use the entire proceeds of Rs 110 crore (Rs 1.1 billion) which it had raised through Initial Public Offer towards expansion and garner the remaining Rs 90 crore (Rs 900 million) as debt from domestic financial institutions.

"We are in the process of tying up the debt portion and this will be done shortly," Aggarwal said. Sixty per cent of the 53 stores run by the company are situated in the northern region and the rest are almost equally divided between east, west and south.

"We are going to set up most of the upcoming stores in northern part concentrating on a particular region. It helps to reduce supply-chain management and advertisement costs. It is always a safe and better bet too," he added. The company has tied-up with a Delhi-based institution to train its staff.