Starbucks all ready to re-enter India

The world's largest coffee-shop chain is filing a fresh proposal to enter the Indian markets the Indian government is now seeking some clarifications in its equity structure.

Starbucks Corp, the world's largest coffee-shop chain, is soon going to file a fresh application to enter the Indian market, top officials in the commerce and industry ministry said.

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"It's they (Starbucks) who told us that they will file a fresh application and if they do we will have a look at it for consideration," Ajay Dua, secretary, in the department of industrial policy and promotion (DIPP), said.

The US-based company, officials said, decided to file a fresh proposal as the government sought some clarifications in its equity structure, sources said.

The company had been trying to enter the Indian market for sometime now since it sees a big business. It had also selected as an India partner New Horizons, a company promoted by Pantaloon Group's Kishore Biyani and VP Sharma.

But the proposal to enter India was rejected by the Foreign Investment Promotion Board, a government body that approves foreign investment applications in India, on the ground that the equity structure was ambiguous.

The company had, in the meantime, already announced its intention in opening its outlet in the shopping malls of Delhi and Mumbai.