METRO Cash & Carry India Private Limited, a subsidiary of Germany-based Metro AG, has decided to invest US$ 180 million for setting up 6 wholesale centers in different locations in Northern Indian state of Punjab by 2010.
The company has proposed to set up distribution centers in the districts of Punjab such as two distribution centers at Ludhiana and one each at Mohali, Zirakpur, Jalandhar and Amritsar. Each of these centers will come up on an area of eight acres of land and will become operational by 2010, it is learnt.
It is also learnt that Metro is actively looking at Punjab not only to set up its retail business but also for the easy availability of fresh produce. The company is, in fact, looking at Punjab as a major sourcing hub for their centers across India.
The Metro Group already has a sourcing company based in Delhi, Metro Group Buying, which does its export-based sourcing. The company currently has two cash-&-carry centers in Bangalore and three in Hyderabad besides one each in Mumbai and Kolkata.
These distribution centers will be a one-stop shop offering a range of food (including fresh fruits and vegetables) and non-food products to cater to the needs of all customers. Metro will bring the business-to-business model to meet the requirements of retailers, caterers, hotels and restaurants.
Metro Cash and Carry India Private Limited started its operation in India in 2003. The company pioneered the concept of Cash & Carry in India. The stores offers assortment of over 18000 grocery and non-grocery items at wholesale prices.
Martin Dlouhy, managing director, Metro Cash & Carry India Private Limited, said, “We still see a huge potential in India. Before entering the market here, we conducted a feasibility study which threw up very positive indications about the country. India is one of the crucial markets in the Asian region for us. The entire distribution market in India is highly unorganized, but worth a mammoth $300 billion and obviously we want a slice of this”.
“India will become one of our global sourcing hubs. We are already sourcing food and non-food categories from India and the destination markets are both Europe and Asia. The general perception is that most of the goods go to Europe but Asia will play an increasingly important role for us. We see huge opportunities in frozen sea-food and cashew nuts, for instance. Our aim is to first identify the vendors who want to become international suppliers and the products that have the potential. Our duty is to help the supplier succeed since we know which export markets to look at, we can provide him processes support, quality support etc. It can, otherwise, be a painful learning curve for the supplier,” Mr. Dlouhy added.
Source:ImageFood India
