Carrefour, the French retail giant, is planning to open its first store in India within the next two months, according to press reports.
Carrefour India's spokesman Franck Kenner told India's Business Standard that Carrefour's new wholesale cash-and-carry outlet in Eastern Delhi would cover 55,000ft2 and source 90 per cent of its products domestically. The company is working on plans to open a second cash-and-carry outlet in India in the near future, he added.
Carrefour also announced plans to train 15,000 farmers in India's northern regions Uttar Pradesh and Haryana to improve productivity by 2011 as part of its sustainable development programme.
'We have already organised 11 farmer empowerment camps in various villages in UP and Haryana to ensure the productivitiy of the farmers increases. We are planning to have seven to eight more camps in the next couple of months,' Carrefour India director of fresh products Yannick Douville told the Business Standard.
'Right now, our priority is the north zone because we have our first store opening in Delhi,' he said.
Meanwhile, at least four retailers from Europe and Asia are poised to submit first-round bids for Carrefour SA's South East Asian assets, worth around US$1bn, reports Reuters.
The race has drawn in France's Casino and the UK's Tesco, as well as regional Asian players like Dairy Farm and Aeon, sources said.
