Après Carrefour c'est le tour de l'arrivé d'Auchan en Inde

Source : Economic Times

THE GOVERNMENT may be a fence-sitter on FDI in retail but that has not dampened the enthusiasm of global retailers to be part of India’s growth story.

Auchan, the $50-billion grocery and consumer goods retailer from France and the ninth-largest food retailer in the world, is shaping up its India plans.

The retailer is believed to have held talks with Bombay Dyeing, a Wadia group company which is currently finalising its retail venture. It is learnt that Ness Wadia has met the Asia-Pacific head of Auchan. Informed sources said the much-publicised Wadia-Carrefour alliance is still far from being finalised and the deal could swing either way.

Carrefour, it’s learnt, is talking to other Indian business houses as well. In the absence of FDI in front-end retail of food and grocery, which is also not set to be liberalised in a hurry, most foreign retailers are exploring a model similar to that of Wal-Mart-Bharti (JV at the backend and a licensing arrangement in the front-end) which is permissible under Indian laws. At the same time, foreign retailers want to partner business houses of repute who also have sufficient political clout. This explains why Wal-Mart chose the Bharti Group (it is learnt that it had also approached Reliance Retail) and why Carrefour’s talks with the Dubai-based Landmark group failed. Given the government’s blow-hot, blow-cold attitude towards foreign retailers, especially those selling food and grocery, consultants often advise such retailers to go with partners capable of providing sufficient cushion during rough weather. A Bombay Dyeing spokesperson declined to comment on its retail plans. However, it’s known that the group is currently finalising its plans in the space of malls, hyper markets and super markets. The group’s textile retail business is being handled independently of its other retail plans.

Auchan, the latest foreign retailer to join the India bandwagon, is known for its strength in hypermarkets and has also strengthened its position in supermarkets through the acquisition of Docks de France. It is currently faced with the challenge of pushing growth rates beyond France and other developed but saturated markets.

From the time its first outlet in Roubaix, France opened in 1961, Auchan has grown over the past 45 years to become a leading international grocery and consumer goods retailer, operating across 12 countries globally. With a workforce of 160,000, the Auchan Group operates over 600 supermarkets and 300 hypermarkets. Groupe Auchan, an unlisted family company, is implementing a policy of progressive and controlled international growth, and is concentrating its investments on priority development areas: Western Europe, Central and Eastern Europe, and Asia.