New Delhi, Jan 21 French retail chain Carrefour will host an Indian mango festival in France, China and Malaysia in May, even as its chief executive Jose-Luis Duran meets Commerce Minister Kamal Nath here Monday to appraise him of his group's plans for India.Carrefour, which is in talks with a dozen Indian corporate houses for a possible tie-up to enter the Indian market, is hoping that the government will soon open up the retail trade business further to foreign equity, industry sources said.Kamal Nath had recently remarked that all big global retail trade chains were in talks to enter into tie-ups with Indian companies. 'You have Carrefour looking at India very closely. Probably they are on the last lap of finalizing things.'In his meeting with Kamal Nath, Duran is not only expected to push for the opening up of multi-brand retailing industry to foreign players but also take up the issue an independent regulator for the industry, officials said.The $100-billion giant, with a chain of supermarkets, hypermarkets and convenience stores around 30 countries, currently sources merchandise worth $400 million annually from India, mainly high-value textiles and clothing.But with strong signals that the government intends to open up the retail trade business further, as opposed to allowing only up to 51 percent foreign equity in single brand retailing, Carrefour hopes to firm up its India policy in a couple of months, the sources said.Regarding the proposed Indian mango festival, the plan is to make it a joint effort with the commerce ministry's Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (Apeda).The sources said two or three varieties of mangoes, including the famous Alphonso, would be showcased in Carrefour stores in the three countries not just to retail the king of fruits but also feature some exotic recipes using them.Carrefour, the sources said, has also embarked on a programme to procure apples of consistent quality from Himachal Pradesh to sell them overseas and also introduce a special technology to make desiccated coconut in India to sell them in the French market.According to sources associated with Carrefour's operations in India, the group hopes to get en entry into India soon in a tie-up with a local company even if it is not permitted a majority stake.The group - the second largest retail chain after Wal-Mart - is globally known to keep its capital investment per store to the bare minimum, use the money thus saved to price competitively and make profits from high volume sales.It intends to employ the same strategy in India, even though it may alter its product mix where 60 percent of the merchandise stocked comprises food items, the sources revealed.
(c) Indo-Asian News Service
