Confidence in craft: Aditya Birla Group-backed Indriya’s theatre of luxury sets the stage for rapid expansion

Walk into an Indriya store and the deliberate theatre of it all strikes you instantly. The deep, royal blue walls and the muted gold lighting catch just enough reflection without feeling loud. The jewellery sits behind curved glass panels, as if waiting to be discovered rather than sold. “It’s like a fine-dining experience,” says Sandeep Kohli, CEO of Indriya.

More than a year ago, Indriya, the Aditya Birla Group’s ambitious entry into the organised jewellery market, albeit delayed, was little more than a gleam in the conglomerate’s diversification strategy. Today, the brand operates 36 stores across 22 cities. According to Indriya’s annual report, the target is to grow the stores to 100 by FY26-end.

“This is among the fastest ramp-ups by a retail brand in India, definitely in jewellery,” Kohli says. But what’s noteworthy is not the speed, but how the company has positioned itself—less as a traditional jeweller, and more as a modern retail brand using design, technology, and experience. “We want to be among the top three jewellery brands in India.”

The D factor

Unlike other brands, Indriya has built an in-house design team responsible for about 60% of its collection, while the rest is sourced through vendors to whom Indriya supplies detailed design briefs. “In most brands, it’s the other way around—the vendor designs and the brand chooses. We reversed that,” Kohli says.

He claims customers laud Indriya’s “fresh” designs, where tradition meets contemporary. “They’re not Western, but Indian designs done differently, either categories you haven’t seen before or pieces with a modern twist.” If designs are Indriya’s language, the stores are the “theatre”, Kohli says. Each store is curated to a city’s taste. “A Jaipur store has a different design sensibility than an Indore one,” Kohli says. “In cosmopolitan metros, the assortment is wider; regional styles dominate Tier II markets.”

This localisation has paid off: stores in Ahmedabad, Jaipur, and Pune are performing especially well. Each store differs by format—high street, heritage building, and mall. The Indriya store in Mumbai’s Phoenix Palladium is the largest jewellery store in the mall, surrounded by competition. Yet, he says, footfall has been “fantastic.” Kohli notes that while demand is growing faster in Tier II cities, Indriya looks at absolutes rather than growth percentages: “We’re only a year old. But most of our stores are hitting or exceeding benchmarks.”

The brand’s growth is deliberately paced. “Network expansion is one lever, but not for its own sake,” says Kohli, a Hindustan Unilever veteran. “Every store has to be in the right city, right location, right size. Otherwise, we don’t open it.”

Technology is embedded in Indriya’s DNA. Every consultant carries a tablet—transactions, product details, and design visualisations are all handled digitally. The consultants undergo a three-week programme, to understand craftsmanship and how jewellery enhances beauty.

Scaling with intent

Estimated at $80–85 billion, the jewellery market contributes nearly 7% to India’s GDP. It is projected to register a 5.7% CAGR through 2030, according to Grand View Research. For long, family-run stores and regional brands had dominated India’s jewellery business. Tata-backed Tanishq was the earliest entrant in the organised, branded jewellery segment. For years, Tanishq enjoyed an uncontested run at the top, but competition has intensified over the past decade, particularly in the past 5-6 years, Titan MD, C.K. Venkataraman, recently told Fortune India.

Yet, about 65% of the market is still unorganised. Quizzed about the group’s late entry, Kohli says, “We are not late. We are the latest mover… And, we must be conscious of the advantages that come with that.” According to the company’s annual report, Indriya reported a total income of ₹710 crore in FY25. However, higher operating costs pushed total expenditure to ₹937 crore, leading to a pre-tax loss of ₹227 crore. It posted an operating loss of ₹249 crore and a net loss of ₹333 crore on sales of ₹688 crore, data by market intelligence firm Tofler showed. Meanwhile, at ₹46,571 crore, Titan’s jewellery business, led by Tanishq and complemented by Zoya, Mia, and CaratLane, reported a 21.4% YoY revenue growth in FY25. Its Ebit stood at ₹4,764 crore.

Despite current volatility, Kohli is optimistic that gold’s long-term trend is upward. “The way consumers buy jewellery is changing. Being a brand born in the 2020s allows us to build for this new mindset.” He pauses, thoughtful for a moment. “Eighteen months ago, we were nervous,” he says. “Today, it’s exciting confidence. What we wanted to do in 10 years, we now want to do in five. What we planned for five, we want to do in three. We’re moving faster because we’ve earned the right to move faster.”

Indriya’s ₹5,000-crore investment outlay underwrites this ambitious plan. It has already introduced a unique franchise model, with 8-10 of its 36 stores run by franchisees. “Franchisees are confident because the Aditya Birla Group manages the entire brand experience end to end,” the CEO says.

Without disclosing specific timelines or numbers, he says the early traction and store-level metrics have instilled confidence in the team. “Our store economics are working much better than we thought. We’ll hit breakeven faster than expected, maybe at the end of the next 12 months or so.” For now, Indriya’s focus is on strengthening its foundations.