French retailer Carrefour to set up business in India, says report

Nov 12, 2007, 9:34 GMT

New Delhi - French retailer Carrefour plans to set up a wholesale business in India through a wholly-owned subsidiary, a newspaper report said Monday.

The operation on the wholesale retail model was expected to start by late 2008 or early 2009, the Economic Times newspaper reported citing industry sources.

Indian regulations allow multi-brand retailers to own and manage wholesale retail businesses but not front-end shops that sell goods directly to consumers. They are allowed to open franchises. The policy is aimed at protecting small family-run neighbourhood stores.

United States-based retailer Wal-Mart also announced in August its decision to enter the Indian market in partnership with Indian firm Bharti Enterprises and the first Bharti-Wal-Mart facility is also slated to open by the end of 2008.

Carrefour decided to go it alone as Indian partners were not agreeable to its terms and conditions, the Economic Times reported.

India's fast-growing retail industry is currently estimated to be worth 312 billion dollars. Organized retailing comprises only 2.8 per cent of the total retailing market and is estimated at around 8.7 billion dollars. But industry projections expected it to grow to 70 billion dollars by 2010.