The company is engaged in talks with potential partners, including Kishore Biyani’s Future group, with which it was close to inking a deal a little more than two years earlier, a source said.
Another person in the know said Carrefour had recently held discussion with the K Raheja Corp-owned Hypercity, a subsidiary of Shoppers Stop Ltd, for a possible alliance.
In multi-brand retailing, a foreign chain cannot hold more than 51 per cent stake. Currently, Carrefour operates five cash and carry or wholesale outlets in India.
This is a category where up to 100 per cent foreign investment is allowed.
Carrefour is likely to move forward with an application to invest in multi-brand retail stores in India, depending on how the government responds to the application of UK-based Tesco.
Earlier this week, Tesco sent a proposal to the government to invest $110 million in Tata Group’s Trent and run multi-brand stores in Karnataka and Maharashtra.
The Foreign Investment Promotion Board might take up the Tesco-Trent proposal by the end of this month.
Responding to a Business Standard questionnaire on whether the French chain was preparing to file an application for multi-brand retailing in India and if it was partnering the Future group, the largest retailer of the country by revenue, a Carrefour spokesperson said, “At this point of time, we will not be able to comment on anything.”
A Future group spokesperson said, “We don’t
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