IKEA shelves plan to enter India

Reuters
Posted: Thursday, Jun 11, 2009 at 1429 hrs IST
Updated: Thursday, Jun 11, 2009 at 1429 hrs IST

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New Delhi: Sweden's IKEA, the world's biggest furniture retailer, will stay out of India as long as the country doesn't allow full foreign ownership of single-brand retailers, it said on Thursday.

India is an enormous potential market for retailers but it only allows a maximum of 51 per cent foreign investment in single-brand retailers.

"As far as retail development in India is concerned, the IKEA Group has postponed any decision to enter the market due to the fact that regulations have not been changed to allow IKEA to fully own its retail operations," the budget furniture maker said on an email.

Its comments came after media reports said it had called off a $1 billion investment plan due to the restrictions.

"India is still seen as a long term potential market for IKEA and we will continue to press for changes to the existing regulations," the company said.

"If and when changes are made to the FDI (Foreign Direct Investment) regulations allowing 100 per cent ownership of single brand retailers then IKEA will reconsider its position."

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