FX.co ★ Tesco to be first foreign retailer in India

The British largest supermarket chain Tesco sealed a joint venture agreement with Trent Hypermarket Limited (THL), a unit of India's TataGroup, BBC News reports. Thus, Tesco is going to be the first overseas supermarket on the Indian market, the share of which is about £330 billion ($500 billion).
Tesco plans to invest £85 billion in the alliance with THL. Besides, the British corporation will continue to supply technical support to the Asian company.
Under the deal, THL will operate 12 supermarkets under the Star Bazaar and Star Daily banners in southern and western regions of India.
The Indian government moved year and a half ago to open up its retail sector to foreign companies.
Foreign supermarkets may hold stakes of up to 51% in Indian retail enterprises. Such a decision was widely criticized by the Indian society and political powers.
Rules stipulating that foreign retail chains had to source 30% of their products from local firms were eased in September 2013. The requirement remains, but foreign firms now have five years to hit the 30% target.