Thaindian News

New Delhi, Dec 30 (IANS) The world’s second largest retailer, the France-based Carrefour opened its first cash-and-carry wholesale store in India at the capital’s eastern suburb of Shahadra Thursday and said it would soon open more such outlets in the country. “Opening of this first store marks Carrefour’s entry into the Indian market and will be followed shortly by the opening of other cash and carry stores,” said Carrefour chief executive Lars Olofsson.

The 5,200 sq mts store is named Carrefour Wholesale Cash and Carry. The store, at Seelampur Metro Mall, is open only to professional businesses, institutions, restaurants and local retailers and will sell both food and non-food items.

India at present allows 100 percent foreign direct investment in the wholesale cash-and-carry trade. It also permits up to 51 percent equity in the single brand retail trade segment. But such investment is barred in multi-brand retailing.

“This first step is essential to allow the Carrefour team to fully understand the Indian market and then build our presence in other formats,” Olofsson said in a statement.

Ranked second in retail industry after the US giant Wal-Mart, Carrefour is a $140 billion group with a presence in 34 countries and 475,000 employees. It operates in four formats — hypermarkets, supermarkets, hard discounts stores and convenios.

In China, the group has as many as 173 hypermarkets.

Along with Wal-Mart, Carrefour has been pushing for the opening up of the retail trade business to foreign investment. The current size of the retail trade industry in India is estimated at around $350 billion and forecast to top $540 billion by 2014.

Wal-Mart, which has partnered with India’s retail-to-telecom group Bharti Enterprises, has plans for 15 wholesale stores in India by the end of next year.

Carrefour’s first cash-and-carry store is located at a mall built by Parsvnath Developers, a New Delhi-based realty company listed on stock exchanges. The company’s shares were up 5.17 percent up at Rs.54.90.