BBC News 12 Aug 08 

UK supermarket giant Tesco has announced plans to branch out into the Indian market. Tesco plans to invest an initial £60m ($115m) to open a wholesale cash-and-carry business based in Mumbai. As well as the wholesale operation, Tesco has also signed a deal to help the retail arm of India's Tata group develop its hypermarket business.

Planet Retail 7 Aug 2008

In Sri Lanka, Cargills is planning to expand its retail presence and increase the amount of produce it sources directly from farmers in the eastern province of the country. This follows the army recently ousting the Tamil Tiger rebels from the region. The company is also looking to recruit more farmers in the region to its supply chain network in an attempt to eliminate middlemen. Cargills is looking to set up two outlets in the eastern province of Ampara and Batticaloa districts, Cargills' CEO Ranjit Page said. Farmers in the region have already been recruited to supply these stores. The company has invested LKR40 million (USD0.37 million) for setting up each outlet, Cargills' brand ambassador and Sri Lankan cricketer Ajanta Mendis said.

Indiaretailbiz.com 3 July 2008 

India's organised retail industry is set to explode. It is growing at a faster pace than was expected and could costitute 25% of the overall retail sector by 2011 in India. This has been concluded by a study on retail sector prepared by Deloitte Haskins and Sells - one of the four largest accounting firms in the world.

International supermarket news 1 July 08

Farmers in India and other developing countries stand to gain up to 50 per cent more when they sell their produce to supermarkets, where consumers also get the products at a much cheaper price compared to traditional retail shops, a new study says.

Planet Retail 30 Jun 2008

According to unconfirmed reports in the Indian press, Pantaloon is looking to set up a joint venture with an international retailer to carry out back end operations such as sourcing and logistics. Reportedly, managing director Kishore Biyani has been meeting retailers in the USA, France and Germany with Carrefour, Casino, Metro and Costco all cited as likely partners. It is understood that the move to find a foreign partner is part of the company's plan to split the Big Bazaar hypermarket format into front end and back end retail entities.

Planet Retail 18 Jun 2008

Speaking at the Reuters Consumer and Retail Summit yesterday, the managing director of Bharti Retail in India, Rajan Bharti Mittal, said that the group's new neighbourhood stores have been received well by Indian consumers and that plans to ramp up its retail presence with Wal-Mart remain on track.

Planet Retail 13 Jun 2008

Speaking at the company's annual general meeting, the chairman of Reliance Industries in India, Mukesh Ambani, has said that the group's retail business will generate more than half a million jobs in the next five years. "We have now grown to nearly 700 stores, comprising fourteen distinct formats, across 60 towns and cities," Ambani said adding that "the Reliance Fresh format, which was the first format launched by the retail venture has grown to nearly 600 stores."

Planet Retail  10 Jun 2008

According to local reports in India, Bharti is planning to expand its retail business across the country. Bharti Enterprises managing director Rajan Bharti Mittal said, the company has already set up stores (small format) in Ludhiana. He added that the focus this year will be to set up medium scale stores covering an area of 2,788-4,182 square metres. The company has also set up a distribution centre spread across 16,188 square metres near Banur (Punjab). Next year the company will set up hypermarket stores, which will be in a covered area ranging from 6,970-9,394 square metres, Mittal said. In addition, Bharti Wal-Mart (India) CEO Raj Jain said that Wal-Mart was providing training to the employees in India to run the store and related supply and distribution operations smoothly.

Business Standard. Mumbai May 28, 200

Organised retail chains in the country have adopted unique business strategies to distinguish themselves from each other in a bid to grow in the fast growing modern retail market, said a report on the impact of big retail chains from the Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations (Icrier). 

Planet Retail 26 May 2008

Anders Moberg, CEO of Carrefour's Middle East franchise partner Majid Al Futtaim Group, has said in an interview that the company is planning to enter Iran with the Carrefour banner this year. "We are going to enter Iran this year with the launch of [a hypermarket under the name of] Carrefour, and have just bought land for a hotel there. Our regional market focus covers Egypt to Pakistan, including Iran, which altogether corresponds to access to 450 million consumers," he said. The entry into the Iranian market will make Carrefour the first hypermarket operator in the country.