The new Indian Silk House Agencies store in Omaxe Mall, Chandni Chowk
In the last two years, we have opened a store every 14 days, declares Darshan Dudoria, CEO of Indian Silk House Agencies, the storied 52-year-old saree retail chain from Kolkata that is expanding its footprint rapidly.
Last fortnight, the store known for its extensive silk range and wide artisan network opened its first store in Delhi — aptly enough at the luxurious Omaxe Mall in the historic Chandni Chowk area.
“We now have 59 operational stores and there are several more stores where interiors are happening. So, we will have 64 plus stores across 57 cities in 13 states. Moving forward, we are looking to open a store every 10 days,” says Dudoria, the third generation in the family business started on his mother’s side.
He feels the time is right to scale as there is a lot of investor attention now — the reason being the branded saree segment has seen a CAGR of 34 per cent in the last few years. If you include the unorganised sector, sarees are a ₹80,000 crore market now.
Quizzed about the 34 per cent branded sarees growth figure, Dudoria explains that it is extrapolated from a Technopak report which says that branded women’s Indian wear market is growing at a CAGR of 34 per cent as there is a growing shift from unorganised to organised, as well as the fact that online penetration of branded women’s wear has grown at a rate of 66 per cent in the last five years.
The report says that the share of organised retail in women’s apparel which was 19 per cent in FY2015 jumped to 27 per cent in FY2020 and is expected to reach 42 per cent by FY2025.
Expansion route
“The model we have taken is to expand more into tier two and tier three cities a little bit more,” says Dudoria, describing how they are in places like Sambalpur in Orissa, Angul Gaya and Begusarai in Bihar, Jabalpur in Madhya Pradesh and Bilaspur in Chhattisgarh.
“The dream is to get to 400 stores by 2030,” he says.
“At the same time, we are looking to expand overseas also as we feel there’s a huge diaspora market,” he says.
Weddings are a major driver for saree sales, says Dudoria.
“About 35 per cent of what we sell would be around weddings. Data also suggests that 70 per cent women buy sarees for an occasion,” he says.
Any particular type of sarees that are trending now?
“Kantha work has come back in fashion in every form and manner — as art, wall hangings, dupattas and sarees,” says Dudoria. Tussars are always in vogue and a silent winner, but we suddenly see net and organza sarees are trending,” he says.
But the biggest uptake, he says, is in pre-draped sarees.
Published on December 21, 2025