French retail giant Carrefour has signaled its intentions to expand into the Indian retail sector in 2011 with the opening of its first cash and carry outlet on 30 December.
The 5,200m2 wholesale store situated in New Delhi opened under the ‘Carrefour Wholesale Cash&Carry’ banner, and will sell to food companies, institutions, restaurants and retailers.
Carrefour’s chief executive Lars Oloffson said in a media release on the company’s website it intended to open more cash and carry stores in the near future.
Mr Oloffson indicated the company was positioning itself to move into multi-brand retail if the Indian government decided to remove restrictions on foreign direct investment in that format.
“This first step is essential to allow the Carrefour teams to fully understand the specificities of the Indian market and then build our presence in other formats,” he stated in the media release about the store opening.
Currently India allows 100 per cent foreign ownership of wholesale stores and 51 per cent foreign ownership of single-brand retail outlets.
The country’s government is currently evaluating opening up foreign direct investment in multi-brand retail outlets.
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