LUDHIANA: Mukesh Ambani promoted Reliance Retail Ltd announced to open 50-60 'i store' across the country within the next one and half years and 150 Reliance Digital stores by 2011-12."We have plans to open 50-60 i stores by next 15-18 months while first targeting top cities of the country and we also plan to open 150 Reliance Digital stores by 2011-12," Reliance Digital Chief Executive Officer Ajay Baijal told reporters.

Reliance Digital is a consumer durable and IT arm of Reliance Retail Ltd, which offers home appliance, consumer electronics, IT and telecom products. While i store is a Apple Premium Reseller store, which exclusively deals with Apple products.On being asked about the earnings, he said, "On an average, we are expecting Rs 7 crore from i store format and Rs 70 crore per annum from Reliance digital."

The company is looking to have 1,000-1,200 square feet of Area under i store and 20,000-30,000 square feet under Reliance Digital, he said.Presently, the company has i store in Bangalore, Hyderabad, Mumbai and Jaipur and Reliance Digital stores in Hyderabad, Bangalore, Mumbai, Gurgaon and Ghaziabad.The company announced to open fifth i store and the first in Punjab.

The new i store at Ludhiana spread over 1363 sq ft, will offer entire range of Apple products, including iMac consumer desktop computers, iPods and the entire suite of Mac software along with over 500 accessories and peripherals complementing Apple products.Reliance Retail Ltd (RRL) operates over 600 stores in over 57 cities, spanning 13 states with over 3.5 million Sq ft.