India foreign investment panel clears IKEA entry

NEW DELHI Agence France-Presse

IKEA gets allowance to retain its “global model” in India, retailing all of its products. AP photo

India’s foreign investment panel has cleared a nearly $2-billion plan by Swedish furniture giant IKEA to open its stores in the country as it seeks new markets for its flat-pack products.

Two months ago, the Foreign Investment Promotion Board rejected 15 of IKEA’s 30 product lines including food and textiles, underscoring the regulatory hurdles faced by foreign stores hoping to enter the Indian market.

But late on Jan.21, commerce minister Anand Sharma said that the investment board had cleared the plan.

“This is a positive development,” Sharma said. “The government is committed to playing a constructive role in encourage foreign direct investment.

IKEA had told the Indian government the company must be allowed to retain its “global model” in India, retailing all of its products and running its in-store restaurants as it does in every country where it has operations.

“We are now waiting for approval from the cabinet and subsequently a notification so that we can initiate the process of establishing IKEA stores in the country,” Maeztu said.

Clearance from the Indian cabinet was expected to be forthcoming after the commerce minister said late last month that “we accept their global model” and “we see no reason why their global model has to be changed in any manner.” IKEA’s entry into India -- it has pledged to invest $1.9 billion in coming years -- is being closely watched as a test case for how a large foreign corporation negotiates India’s byzantine rules and red tape.