First Bharti retail store by March

Bharti Enterprises is set to open its first retail store in the country by the March 2008 and plans to open a minimum of six stores by the end of that year, reports M Rajendran.

Bharti Enterprises is set to open its first retail store in the country by the March 2008 and plans to open a minimum of six stores by the end of that year.

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Sunil Bharti Mittal, chairman and CEO of the Bharti group, on Saturday said the branding process would be completed soon and discussions were on with Bharti’s back-end partner Wal-Mart. Speaking on the sidelines of a meeting organised by the Confederation of Indian Industries (CII), he said: "The process is going according to plan and we are looking at a cluster of stores by early 2008. You will see half-a-dozen stores coming up within the year.”

Mittal said during his visit to the US earlier this month as president of a CII delegation, he met Mike Duke, chairman of Wal-Mart Stores Incorporated, in Washington separately. Mittal also held a meeting with Carlos Gutierrez, secretary, US Department of Commerce.

Foreign direct investment in multi-brand retailing is not yet allowed in India. Only 51 per cent FDI in single-brand stores and 100 per cent in the cash-and-carry wholesale business are allowed. The existing policy also allows FDI in franchises.

Last year, the Bharti group had announced an investment of $2.5 billion in its retail venture. According to an agreement with Wal-Mart, Bharti would manage the front-end and the US major would provide back-end and logistics support.

Mittal said US companies were keen on India opening its FDI policy in multi- brand retail chains. “In the beginning they will be happy to see it happening, may be with 26 per cent FDI,” he added.