Biyani refutes tie-up talks with global retail giant

After Tesco applied for multi-brand retail FDI, speculations were rife

that French retail giant Carrefour would be the next applicant and Future Retail could be the possible partner since both were in talks for partnership in the past. However, as per recent media reports, Future Group managing director, Kishore Biyani has refuted any such tie up in the immediate future.

Three years ago, Carrefour was almost in final stages of negotiations with the Future Group, when it was scouting for a local partner to open multi-brand retail stores in the country. However, lack of clarity over investment norms under the FDI policy had forced the global major to put its plans on hold.

Though the Indian government had allowed 51 percent FDI in multi-brand retail last September, it did not receive a single proposal owing to certain rules in the FDI policy like mandatory sourcing from Indian SMEs and investment in back-end infrastructure. Many global retailers, including Walmart, Carrefour and even Tesco had put their plans on hold, but after the ministry’s meetings with both domestic and international retailers, the government eased the norms to make the segment lucrative for retailers.