After IKEA now H&M may apply for 100 pc FDI in India

The CEO, H&M, Karl Johan Persson meeting the Union Minister for Commerce & Industry and Textiles, Anand Sharma, in New Delhi on Feb 19.

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Saurabh Gupta | 20 Feb, 2013
After IKEA, seeking to enter the India market, another Swedish firm Hennes & Mauritz (H&M) is looking for setting up wholly-owned single brand stores in India, its CEO Karl Johan Persson said Tuesday.

"We are in application process now. So the application (100 percent FDI unit) will be filed shortly," after meeting with Anand Sharma, Union Minister for Commerce & Industry and Textiles, Persson told media in New Delhi on Tuesday.

He said, "I don't want to say a number of stores. We will start with a few stores when we enter and we will see if everything as we hope then we will expand heavily from there."

"I do think that we offer something new to the Indian market in terms of fashion, and quality and great prices. Hopefully we will get a good reception. What we gain from Indian consumers, there seems to be a great interest in fashion," he added.

Offering his support, Anand Sharma told H&M CEO, "You, the market and the potential is there. Make your decision. If any support needed we are there...."

H&M is a multinational retail-clothing company, known for its fast-fashion clothing for men, women, teenagers and children. It exists in 43 countries and as of 2011 employed around 94,000 people, reports media.

It had 2,325 stores at end of 2011 and 2,629 stores at end of August 2012. It leads over third largest global clothing retailer, United States based GAP Inc.

Expressing his interest in Indian markets, Karl Johan Persson said, "We also expressed our appreciation of the Minister Sharma and his team opening up for FDI in India."

On this Sharma said that H&M may like to explore linkages with Indian design institutions like Footwear Design and Development Institute, National Institute of Design and National Institute of Fashion Technology.

"We will see (on investment). It's a huge market. We are not there yet. It depends on what time frame we are looking at, but the potential is enormous. We start if everything goes well," added CEO.