Swedish furniture retailer IKEA plans to more than double its investment in India to over Rs 21,000 crore by 2030 as it accelerates store expansion, strengthens local sourcing and deepens omni-channel presence to reach a turnover of Rs 8,000 crore, said its India business head Patrik Antoni.
The company, which had committed to invest Rs 10,500 crore in India in 2013, when it received approval for single-brand retail operations, has already surpassed that level of investment, with the two upcoming multi-use Lykli centres in Delhi-NCR, the IKEA India CEO told PTI.
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"We made a commitment to the authorities that we would invest Rs 10,500 crore. This amount is already committed to India at the moment, and we see that we will probably double that investment going forward. By 2030, we should have doubled that at least," said Antoni.
The new tranche of investments will be directed towards expanding the retailer's physical footprint, mixed-use developments, renewable energy projects, sourcing operations and technology capabilities.
On business performance, Antoni said IKEA India also aims to be profitable in the next few years. Moreover, the company, which is "growing at a healthy double-digit rate", also aims to quadruple its turnover by 2030.
"We are around Rs 2,000 crore of turnover today. We believe we can quadruple this by 2030. Rs 8,000 crore is the ambition," he said.
The expansion plan underscores IKEA's long-term confidence in the Indian market, which the company views as one of its key growth engines globally.
According to Antoni, IKEA aims to double its sourcing volumes from India over the next three to four years, driven by higher exports as well as increased domestic demand with store expansion.
"The ambition is to, within the coming three-four years, double the sourced volumes in India," he said.
In 2013, the government approved a Rs 10,500 crore FDI proposal by Ikea to set up 10 stores with allied infrastructure in 10 years. Subsequently, it planned to open 15 more stores.
At present, 100% foreign direct investment is permitted in single-brand retail trading through the automatic route.
IKEA has already invested in developments of large mixed-use spaces in Noida and Gurugram, a solar farm in Rajasthan, a global capability centre and sourcing operations in the country.
As part of its growth strategy, the company aims to expand its store network significantly over the next few years.
"The plans looking forward are to really make another 25 stores in the coming three-four years. By 2030, we'll have about 30 stores," Antoni said.
The company, which kicked off its retail operations in India with the opening of its first store in Hyderabad in August 2018, currently operates large-format stores in Hyderabad, Bengaluru and Mumbai, while also developing mixed-use projects in Noida and Gurugram.
Besides, it is also present in over 80 markets through the e-commerce route.
Antoni said the company's key focus is to improve accessibility and reach more consumers across India through a combination of physical stores and digital channels. He said that online sales currently account for around 30% of IKEA's revenue in India.
"E-commerce today is 30% of what we sell. It is a very important part and we believe that both e-commerce and maybe AI-driven commerce will also change. We are very actively pursuing this interest already," he said.
While new store openings are expected to drive strong growth in offline sales, online sales are projected to expand at an even faster pace, he added.
"We do not have so many stores yet. So when we open a new store, that drives a lot of offline sales... Of course, we are going to grow offline a lot. But online will grow not a bit faster than offline growth," he said.
IKEA is also preparing for a major expansion in its workforce, with employee strength expected to double by the end of the decade.
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"We have about 2,500 employees at the moment. But we're looking at doubling that until 2030, which means another 2,500 colleagues will come in," Antoni said, adding that the company is also investing in leadership development to support future growth.
The retailer is simultaneously scaling up sourcing from India, both for domestic operations and exports.
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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