Gap Stores in India by April 2015, Says Arvind Ltd

Arvind Ltd will open Gap stores in India by April of next year, chairman and managing director Sanjay Lalbhai told NDTV. The first store will either be in Mumbai or Delhi, he said.

"It (first Gap store) will either be in Bombay or Delhi, which is the first one I don't know. The discussions are on, and I think it should happen by April of next year," Mr Lalbhai said. (Watch)

Gap is a popular American apparel brand. It has partnered with Arvind Lifestyle Brand Ltd, a unit of textile manufacturer Arvind Ltd to come to India.

The Arvind stable already boasts of popular brands like Arrow, US Polo, Tommy Hilfiger and Nautica. It has 16 international brand licences in all, in its kitty.

The Gap stores in India will be owned and operated by Arvind through a licencing agreement.

Gap is headquartered in San Francisco, California. It operates five primary brands- Gap, Banana Republic, Old Navy, Piperlime, Intermix, and Athleta.

"It (Gap) has given us a licence to bring the entire Gap lifestyle to this country. So we'll be opening the Gap stores. All the merchandise will be bought from Gap, so it will be the international merchandise which will be available to the Indian consumers and we'll be paying them (Gap) a royalty," Mr Lalbhai said.

The company will open 40 Gap stores across the country with an investment of Rs 400 crore and expects an annual revenue of Rs 1,000- 1,200 crore.