Apart from Tesco, India's multi-brand retail is a no-show affair

New Delhi: Apart from UK-based Tesco Plc, the government has not received any other proposal for investment in the country’s multi brand retail sector so far, Parliament was informed today.

“Government has approved a proposal from M/s Tesco Overseas Investment Ltd, a UK Company to carry out the business of multi brand retail trading in India. “No other application/proposal for investment in multi brand retail sector has been received in Department of Industrial Policy & Promotion,” Textiles Minister Santosh Gangwar said in a written reply in the Rajya Sabha.

The extant FDI policy in Multi-Brand Retail Trade (MBRT) stipulates that at least 30 per cent of the value of procurement of manufactured/processed products purchased shall be sourced from Indian micro, small and medium industries, which have a total investment in plant & machinery not exceeding USD 2 million.

Earlier, the Foreign Investment Promotion Board approved UK-based Tesco Plc’s proposal to enter the Indian multi-brand retail segment in joint venture with Tata Group company Trent Hypermarket with an initial investment of USD 110 million (about Rs 680 crore).

Tesco was the first global retailer to apply for multi- brand retailing after the government allowed 51 per cent foreign direct investment (FDI) in the segment in September last year.

PTI