After beginning operations from Bangalore, Germany's cash-and-carry wholesale format major Metro Group on Tuesday said it will invest 300 million Euros inIndia and gradually expand to 33 cities to grow operations.
"We will be opening stores in Kolkata, Chennai and Mumbai apart from Hyderabad and will be making an investment of 300 million Euros for this," Henry O E Birr, Metro Group Asia Pacific president said in Bangalore.
He said the company had plans to spread to 33 Indian cities as it moved further towards expansion in the country.
"We will be spreading to cities, which have a population of over one million," Birr, who is a member of the executive board of directors (Metro Cash and Carry International), said.
He said the company invested around 50 million Euros per store in India, going by which the total proposed investments could go up to 1.6 billion Euros in the future.
"However, initially we have a Board approval for 300 million Euros only and we would be increasing investments in the coming time after considering various factors," Birr said. He said India was "an attractive market" for Metro wholesale concept.
Encouraged by the international success of its Cash and Carry format, Metro opened two distribution centres in Bangalore in the last quarter of 2003, which offer business customers an array of over 8,000 food and 9,000 non-food items in different pack sizes under one roof.
Birr said the average size of a Metro store in India would be about 30,000 sq mtrs and added that the company was open to both lease as well as acquisition mode for land.
On being asked when the company would spread to the targeted 33 cities, he said: "It depends by when we get a licence as well as real estate."
Outlining the concerns in the Indian market, he mentioned the non-implementation of the APMC Act by Karnataka government. Also, he said steps should be taken to improve the infrastructure.
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