| The Retail story in India is getting hotter by the day. Only a day after the world's largest retailer Wal-Mart Stores Inc signed a 50:50 JV with Bharti for cash and carry and back-end operations, Metro Cash & Carry of Germany, currently the largest player in the Indian cash and carry market, has announced its plans to enter Mumbai and Kolkata by next year. Also in the offing are distribution centers in Ghaziabad, Gurgaon, Kolkata, Chennai, Delhi and Coimbatore.
Metro currently has operations in Bangalore and has just opened one in Hyderabad where the centre, set up with an investment of INR 670 million ( US$15 million), is built on seven acre land with a selling space of 1,00,000 sq ft of which 20,000 sq ft is temperature-controlled space to handle fresh perishables. A wide range of 18,000 products, which will cater to hotels, restaurants, caterers, retailers and traders are available at the centre, according to the MD, Mr. Harsh Bahadur.
The company has already invested close to US$70 million in its Indian operations. |
