Talks snap on Bharti-Tesco retail partnership
By Our Corporate Bureau | 25 Nov 2006
Negotiations between Sunil Mittal's Bharti Enterprises and UK supermarket chain Tesco for launching a retail joint venture have come to an end.
Bharti has been in negotiations with supermarket chains like Wal-Mart, Carrefour, Metro and Tesco, and is expected to announce a retail joint venture soon. Foreign supermarket chains are currently barred from operating retail-marketing activities in India, but can set up wholesale operations.
Bharti Enterprises, whose telecom venture Bharti Airtel has emerged as the largest private sector telecom services supplier, has planned a diversification into insurance, agriculture and retailing.
According to a PPMG study organized retailing in India is expected to grow faster than the growth in GDP in the next five years, which has made it an attractive destination for foreign retail chains. According to various estimates the Indian retail market, currently estimated at $300 billion is expected to more than double by 2015.
Bharti Axa Life Insurance Company Ltd., a 74:26 insurance joint venture with global insurance major Axa has received the final life insurance licence approval from Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA).
For the global distribution of fresh fruits and vegetables, Bharti's FieldFresh Foods Private Limited has been set up in association with ELRo Holdings India Ltd, an investment company of the Rothschild family, formed by Sir Evelyn de Rothschild and Lady Lynn Forester de Rothschild.
