As part of its expansion plans, leading book mall Sapna will have another 50 book stores across the country over the next five years.

Sapna, which has 15 stores at present, majority of them being in Karnataka, and one in Coimbatore, has an ambitious target of setting up another 50 stores with a total investment of Rs150 crore, Sapna Group President Nijesh Shah told mediapersons.

An average Rs.2.5 crore to Rs 3 crore is required to set up a store and the company, as part of its plan, is also will have 100 Sapna Express, which have textbooks other than high demand, fast-selling books, stationery, gifts and chocolates, from the present two in Karnataka in another five years, he said.

Sapna will open five stores in Tamil Nadu — Coimbatore two,Chennai, Erode and Vellore — in another three years, besides planning to open franchisee models to meet the demand from rural markets, Shah said.

The company had 6,500 titles, with 150 in Tamil which would be added to 800 in three years, Shah said.Another major achievement during the golden jubilee year of Sapna was its online service, which has 1.9 lakh titles, with demand from the US, Australia, Kenya and Ghana growing. The titles would be taken to 3 lakh in three years, he added.