Marks & Spencer has its eye on the expanding middle class in India, and will open 50 new stores in partnership with local group Reliance Retail.

M&S will invest close to £15 million in a joint venture with Reliance Retail, with the expressed aim of establishing M&S as a "major retail brand in India".

The group opened its first outlet in Delhi in 2001 and now operates 14 stores in the region. An M&S spokeswoman said: "We earmarked India as it is a developing market with a growing middle class."

The Indian middle class market is predicted to grow to 315 million people by 2015. At this point, the stores are expected to sell only non-food lines.

Carl Leaver, M&S's director of international business, explained the group’s strategy. "We intend to open bigger stores, selling a wider range of products at lower prices, including a growing number of products sourced from local suppliers," he said.

M&S will have a 51 per cent interest in the newly created Marks & Spencer Reliance India, with the local group owning the rest.

The UK group said in a statement the move is part of its strategy "to grow its international business to between 15 and 20 per cent of group revenues within the next five years".

Topics