Raghavendra Kamath, Business Standard Mumbai, 15 April 2016 After a long gap, global investors are buying large retail properties for big bucks. While investors are buying them to build their portfolios, global retailers are acquiring properties to enter markets such as Mumbai.A month after Singapore government-owned $100-billion sovereign fund GIC bought 50 per cent stake in Viviana Mall in Thane, on the outskirts of Mumbai, for over Rs 1,000 crore, US-based private equity (PE) firm Blackstone bought a one-million-square-feet mall being developed by L&T Realty in the Seawoods area of Navi Mumbai, said a source.The deal is expected to be…
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Mehak Sharma, Indiaretailing.com New Delhi, 31 March 2016 While the new policy for foreign direct investment (FDI) in the fast-growing e-commerce sector has been welcomed by several lobby groups and offline retailers, experts note that a few implications of the new guidelines could leave some online players in a fix.The Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP), under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, on Tuesday, allowed 100 per cent FDI in online retail of goods and services under the marketplace model, but kept the inventory-based model of e-commerce out of its purview.However, two conditions attached to the approval, in…
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AFP/The Times of India New Delhi, 30 March 2016 India has set rules for foreign investment in online marketplaces, allowing up to 100 percent overseas ownership and providing much-needed clarity as billions of dollars pour into the country's fast-growing e-commerce sector.The long-awaited rules permit full foreign ownership of sites that connect online buyers to sellers -- similar to the model pioneered by Internet giant eBay.However, foreign direct investment in "inventory-based" sites that sell their own stock is forbidden, the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion said Tuesday.In practice, India's e-retailers already considered this to be the case, acting as technological…
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Viveat Susan Pinto, Business Standard Mumbai, 26 March 2016 Amritha K is a homemaker based in the central suburb of Ghatkopar here. Like most housewives, affordable grocery shopping is an important item to manage. She keeps a hawk's eye on quality but never fails to bargain for that extra rupee of discount from the grocer. There's a new Patanjali shop in her neighbourhood. "I've heard the products are of good quality and reasonably priced," she says. "But, there is such a crowd there that I don't know when I will be able to find the time to go there."This is…
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Raghavendra Kamath, Business Standard Mumbai, 24 March 2016 Inside Select City Walk, New Delhi, where almost every brand that wants a piece of the great Indian consumption story has pitched its tent, a grand fight is in the making. According to industry insiders, here Zara’s 17,000 square feet store pulls in about Rs 10 crore a month, or around Rs 6,000 per square feet. H&M’s 25,000 square feet store makes Rs 12.5 crore a month, or about Rs 5,000 per square feet. Since neither label breaks down its country-wise numbers, these numbers, although not completely representative, are the closest reflection of their…
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