Mumbai: Hong-Kong entrepreneur Ramesh Tainwala spent 18 months operating branded clothing retail stores in India before deciding it was impossible to succeed without paying bribes.
Tainwala, a 55-year-old expatriate Indian, owns Planet Retail, which held the India franchise rights for US fashion labels Guess and Nautica as well as UK retailers Next and Debenhams. He sold the brands last September to various Indian businesses.
"Right now it's not possible to do business in India without greasing palms, without paying bribes," said Tainwala, who is also luggage maker Samsonite's president for Asia Pacific and West Asia. Tainwala said he himself refused to pay bribes to licensing officials, though that could not be independently confirmed.
India is the next great frontier for global retailers, a $500 billion market growing at 20 per cent a year. For now, small shops dominate the sector. Giants from WalMart Stores Inc to IKEA AB have struggled merely for the right to enter, which they finally won last year....
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12:37 PM, May 05, 2013
New Delhi: The government on Thursday allowed Swedish furniture major IKEA to invest Rs 10,500 crore - the biggest ever FDI proposal in single brand retail - for setting up home furnishing stores in the country. "Whatever proposal of IKEA was there has been cleared," Information and Broadcasting Minister Manish Tewari told reporters after the application was cleared by the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs headed by Prime Minister Manmohan...
09:30 PM, May 02, 2013
Without a willingness to lug cheap flat-pack wardrobes home and wrestle with self-assembly, there would be no IKEA, but in Asia, where the locals have other ideas, the Swedish furniture giant thinks it still has a bright future. ...
10:51 AM, Mar 07, 2013
Taco Bell is the latest restaurant chain to acknowledge that its food has been adulterated with horse meat, yanking a variety of ground beef products from its three British outlets and issuing an apology to its patrons on Friday. Meanwhile, in Iceland, a food official said his team had found a beef product from a local producer that contained no meat at all. ...
09:00 AM, Mar 02, 2013
After clearing IKEA's Rs 10,500 crore foreign direct investment proposal, the Finance Ministry on Wednesday said it has now forwarded the investment plans of Swedish furniture major to set up single brand retail stores to the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) for final approval. "One proposal (of) M/s Ingka Holding Overseas BV, amounting to Rs 10,500 crore, has been recommended for consideration of CCEA," the Ministry said in a...
06:44 PM, Feb 27, 2013
Sweden's IKEA stopped nearly all sales of meatballs at its furniture store cafeterias across Europe after tests in the Czech Republic on Monday showed some contained horsemeat. ...
06:21 AM, Feb 26, 2013
The Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) has given approval to Rs 10,000 crore investment proposal of Swedish furniture major, IKEA. The company will now be able to sell all its products and set up cafeterias at its retail stores. ...
08:45 PM, Jan 21, 2013
The Finance Ministry is likely to reconsider on January 18 the proposal of Swedish furniture major IKEA for opening cafeterias at its proposed mega retail outlets. "Meeting of Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) is scheduled on January 18 and the IKEA's case may be taken up," a Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) official said. ...
06:18 PM, Jan 06, 2013
Government is likely to clear IKEA's proposal to open cafeterias at its proposed mega retail outlets when the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) reviews the Swedish furniture major's request on Monday. ...
03:41 AM, Dec 31, 2012
One hundred per cent foreign direct investment is allowed in hotels and restaurants without approval of the Foreign Investment Promotion Board, a move meant to ...
05:57 PM, Dec 28, 2012
Of its Rs 10,500 crore investment plan for India, IKEA has got FIPB approval to bring in only Rs 4,200 crore, even as Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma today batted for allowing the Swedish furniture major's global model which includes cafeterias inside their stores. The Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP), under Sharma, has already forwarded a request to Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) in the Finance Ministry...
04:17 PM, Dec 26, 2012
New Delhi: Government's single-window body to clear foreign investment proposals, FIPB, on Tuesday cleared Swedish furniture major IKEA's Rs 10,500-crore project, the largest FDI in single-brand retail so far. The Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) has approved the proposal of IKEA, Economic Affairs Secretary Arvind Mayaram said after the board meeting in New Delhi. IKEA Group, which manufactures and sells home and office furnishing products, proposes to invest in single...
06:06 PM, Nov 20, 2012
New Delhi: The Finance Ministry is likely to take a decision on Tuesday on Swedish furniture major IKEA's Rs 10,500-crore investment plan, the largest FDI proposal in single-brand retail so far. IKEA's proposal to set up 25 stores in India is listed on the agenda of Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB), which will meet on Tuesday to consider 27 FDI proposals. The proposal has already been scrutinised by the Department...
03:56 AM, Nov 20, 2012
New Delhi: The Finance Ministry is likely to take a decision on Swedish furniture major IKEA's Rs 10,500-crore investment plan on Tuesday, the largest FDI proposal in single-brand retail so far. IKEA's proposal to set up 25 stores in India is listed on the agenda of Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB), which will meet on Tuesday to consider 27 FDI proposals. The proposal has already been scrutinised by the Department...
07:06 PM, Nov 19, 2012
On Board PM's Special Plane: Swedish furniture major IKEA, which proposes to invest Rs 10,500 crore to set up stores in India, has got Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion nod and its application is now with Foreign Investment Promotion Board, Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma said on Sunday. The Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP), which is under the Commerce and Industry Ministry, has scrutinised the application...
06:11 PM, Nov 18, 2012
New Delhi: After clearing three-single brand FDI proposals in one go, the Finance Ministry is likely to take up on November 20, Swedish home furnishing major IKEA's application to invest Rs 10,500 crore -- the largest so far in the segment. After scrutiny of the application by the industry department, sources said IKEA's investment proposal to set up single-brand retail stores in India may now be taken up by the...
03:42 AM, Oct 31, 2012
Almhult: IKEA customers used to assembling its flat-packed furniture will, if the Swedish firm's design boss has his way, soon be able to add their own touches to products before buying. The furniture retailer, which has grown into a global giant from its small-town roots in the heart of southern Sweden, is seeking new markets, with India on its horizon. Even there IKEA - known for its budget furniture in...
12:18 AM, Oct 26, 2012
New Delhi: Old furnitures collected from Indian consumers in exchange for new ones will not be re-sold in the market, Swedish retail major IKEA has informed the government. The company, which plans to invest Rs 10,500 crore to set up 25 single brand retail stores in the country, in its final application has said that the facility of collection/purchase of old furniture is for the convenience of only those customers...
04:43 AM, Oct 15, 2012
Mumbai: Swedish retailer IKEA, which recently announced Rs 10,500 crore investment in the country, on Wednesday said it is considering to create a new product range for the Indian customers. "May be we need to develop new functions and a product range which we don't have yet, for this market. Maybe we need to tweak the style but will never compromise with price. We will make affordable products," IKEA India...
12:29 AM, Oct 11, 2012
Stockholm: IKEA, the world's largest furniture retailer, pushed ahead on Monday with a plan to open its first stores in India following the relaxation of rules on sourcing from local suppliers. India last month eased the heavily criticised rules, anxious not to scare off IKEA - one of the few big name firms that has unveiled plans to invest in the country - or any others willing to follow. The...
08:51 AM, Oct 09, 2012
