Ikea to Invest $500 Million More in India

Mumbai: Ikea, the world's largest furniture retailer, on Wednesday said it has plans to invest Rs 12,500 crore to set up 25 stores in the country over the next decade.

The new stores, each needing investment of around Rs 500 crore, will come in the cities like Mumbai, Delhi, Hyderabad and Bangalore, the Swedish furniture retailer said.

Ikea India has already received approval of the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) to invest Rs 10,500 crore here.

It will mobilise around $500 million more from its global partners for investing in these proposed stores.

"We are looking at investing around Rs 12,500 crore to set up 25 stores at a cost of Rs 500 crore each. We will be mobilising $500 million from our global partners for this venture," Ikea India chief executive Juvencio Maeztu told a retail summit in Mumbai.

"It is difficult to specify any time-frame when we will set up the first store, still I can say we are working on it and we are in talks with different states and are looking at all major metros for land as we require very large area of land that is near a highway," he added.

The company is likely to set up its first store in Bangalore or Hyderabad within the next couple of years. It would require very large space as each store will be set up in an area measuring 3,50,000 square feet, he said, adding that it has not yet singled out any city for setting up its first store.

"For now, the priority is the right location and we are focusing on all major metros, the right location and the good price of land, which is important for us to start right," he said.

Typically, Ikea operates large format stores located on expressways close to large cities, where it sells various household goods such as flat pack furniture, furnishings etc. at relatively lower prices.

Ikea plans to tie up with local suppliers for raw material for its forthcoming stores in the country, Mr Maeztu said.