Photo taken on Feb. 7, 2018 shows an electric car exhibited by Indian automaker Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd. in Greater Noida, India. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo (Photo by Kyodo News via Getty Images) Why Big Tech is racing to bring the internet to India (2018) Farmers are using the sun to help water their crops Water pours down an irrigation channel from a groundwater pump and well next to a field of rice growing on farmland in the Bhagpat district of Uttar Pradesh, India, on Monday, Sept. 3, 2018. Cumulative rainfall during August and September is forecast to be 95 percent of a 50-year average, according to the India Meteorological Department. The monsoon is critical to the farm sector as it accounts for more than 70 percent of India's annual showers and irrigates more than half the country's farmland. Photographer: Prashanth Vishwanathan/Bloomberg via Getty Images In this photograph taken on April 6, 2015, smoke billows from two smoke stacks at the coal-based Badarpur Thermal Station in New Delhi. A study by the Centre of Science and Environment in India found the plant which produces 705 MW (Megawatts) is one of the country's most polluting and inefficient power plants. Authorities insist they must focus on meeting the growing needs of its 1.25 billion people, 300 million of whom lack access to electricity. In its action plan for the Paris COP21 meet, India pledges to reduce its carbon intensity -- a measure of a country's emissions relative to its economic output -- by 35 percent by 2030, rather than an absolute cut in emissions. Globally, India is the third largest carbon-emitting country -- though its per capita emissions are only one third of the international average -- according to the World Resources Institute. AFP PHOTO / MONEY SHARMA Indian Oil's Singh: More oil suppliers is better for trade He wants to bring a billion people to digital payments How Big Tech plans to clean up the world's most polluted city Traffic stretches back in Hero Honda chowk as waterlogging during monsoon downpours causes traffic jams in Gurgaon on July 29, 2016. Thousands of Indians were left stranded overnight July 29, as major traffic gridlock paralysed roads leading to a key business city near New Delhi and authorities struggled to get the situation under control. / AFP / STRINGER (Photo credit should read STRINGER/AFP via Getty Images) Online dating isn't the norm in India. Bumble wants to change that Asia's richest man wants to build the next tech giant India's richest man and oil-to-telecom conglomerate Reliance Industries chairman Mukesh Ambani (R) attends the India Mobile Congress 2018 in New Delhi on October 25, 2018. - The second edition of the India Mobile Congress is taking place in New Delhi from 25-27 October. (Photo by CHANDAN KHANNA / AFP) (Photo credit should read CHANDAN KHANNA/AFP via Getty Images) LIVE from #IITBombay Virtual Convocation: President of India's Medal for 2020 goes to Sahil Hiral Shah, http://B.Tech in Computer Science & Engineering Check out virtual avatar of the student receiving medal from Chief Guest and Nobel laureate Prof. @FDuncanMHaldane Google CEO on India's Covid crisis: The worst is yet to come Paytm is scrambling to get oxygen supplies for India NEW DELHI, INDIA - MAY 09: An elderly woman wears a oxygen mask and breathes as she arrived to receive free oxygen distributed at a Gurdwara as a service to Covid-19 and other patients in need of Oxygen amid the scarcity of Oxygen in the capital on May 09, 2021 in New Delhi, India. India broke a fresh record on Thursday with over 412,000 new cases of Covid-19 as the total number of those infected according to Health Ministry data neared 20 million. The real figure could be up to ten times higher, many health experts say, due to a lack of widespread testing or reporting, and only patients who succumbed in hospitals being counted. Hospitals have begun turning away people suffering from Covid-19, having run out of space for the crushing number of people seeking help. (Photo by Anindito Mukherjee/Getty Images) Paytm is India's biggest online payments firm with more than 300 million users. (CNN Business) — The world’s biggest convenience store chain is wading into India’s massive market. 7-Eleven will set up its first stores in India later this year after signing a franchise deal with Future Group, a local retail chain. Future Group will convert some of its existing stores to 7-Eleven outlets while also opening new ones across India, the companies said this week. 7-Eleven (SVNDY), which operates more than 67,000 stores around the world, is the latest global player to make a play for India’s rapidly growing market. The country’s grocery industry is currently worth around $380 billion, according to a report last year by the US Department of Agriculture. Neighborhood mom-and-pop stores, where most Indians do their weekly shopping, account for an estimated 98% of the market. But Future Group’s Big Bazaar and other modern supermarkets are growing in popularity, and the USDA predicts their share will double from 2% to 4% by 2020. Alexander Shcherbak\TASS via Getty Images 7-Eleven operates more than 67,000 stores around the world. India’s retail market has already attracted the biggest global names. Walmart (WMT) spent $16 billion to take over India’s top e-commerce firm Flipkart last year. Amazon (AMZN), which has committed more than $5 billion to growing its India business in recent years, is looking to expand its grocery offering in the country. Local media report that Amazon (AMZN) is looking to buy a stake in Future Group. Both companies declined to comment. 7-Eleven, meanwhile, is making India its 18th country — a roster that includes the United States, Mexico, Japan, China, the United Arab Emirates and Australia. The company will offer “internationally popular products, beverages, snacks and immediately consumable fresh foods with recipes developed for local tastes,” it said. “This strategic relationship offers an excellent opportunity to bring 7-Eleven’s brand of convenience and its iconic products to the Indian consumer,” the company’s international head, Ken Wakabayashi, said in a statement.<doc-sep>Future Retail secures deal with U.S.-based 7-Eleven Inc. to open convenience stores U.S.-based 7-Eleven Inc. expects to open its first branded store in India this year, after reaching a deal with Future Retail Ltd to run the chain in the Asian nation. Future Retail, which operates local retail chains such as Food Hall and Nilgiris, plans to set up 7-Eleven stores from scratch and convert some of its existing operations into the U.S. brand, the company said in a statement. Shares in Future Retail, founded by Kishore Biyani has 1,444 stores, closed up 3.2% after the announcement. “The agreement gives Future Retail an additional revenue basket,” Abneesh Roy, senior vice-president of research at Edelweiss Financial Services, said. He said it would also benefit customer of Future Consumer, the group's sourcing-to-supermarket food company. The first 7-Eleven store in India is expected to launch this year, the companies said. 7-Eleven, owned by Japan's Seven & i holding, will sell beverages, snacks, fresh foods and other products. The brand has 67,000 stores in 17 countries that stay open around the clock. “We have seen some States issuing guidelines permitting shops to be opened 24 hours, so this could be picked up by others States too,” said Anil Talreja, partner at global consultant Deloitte. Retailers in India require different licences to operate 24 hours a day and to sell alcohol. Most shops are required to close by 10.30 PM Indian Standard Time (1700 GMT).<doc-sep>
The world’s largest convenience store is all set to enter India. On Feb. 28, Japanese-owned, US-headquartered chain 7-Eleven said it has partnered with the Kishore Biyani-led Future Group to bring the corner stores to the world’s second-most populated country. It will open its first Indian store in Mumbai later this year. “The deal, in our view, is positive, as it not only shows 7-Eleven’s confidence in the capability of (Future Retail) in India, but it will also benefit the company through access to global technology and processes,” research firm Jefferies’ India said in a note on Thursday (Feb. 28). The convenience retail behemoth operates upwards of 67,000 outlets across 17 countries. In India, the franchise agreement will be executed via SHME Food Brands Private Limited, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Future Retail. The agreement is slated to last 80 years. Stronger together In a country where unorganised retail—local mom-and-pop stores and standalone outlets—has captured 93% of the market, branded convenience stores are few. However, experts believe that 7-Eleven has found the right guide to succeed in India. “Future Group is the pioneer of organised retail in India with vast experience in retailing segments such as foods, fashion, and personal care,” wrote Tanmay Sharma and Varun Lohchab, equity analysts at Jefferies. “Apart from this, it has the expertise in terms of selecting the right location coupled with better rental negotiations (operates around 24 million square feet of retail space in India).” Having the right partner is key to capitalise on India’s massive retail opportunity, which is on track to surpass $1 trillion (around Rs70 lakh crore) by 2020. Especially as the sector heats up with myriad global players—American retail giant Walmart, Asia’s minimalist retailer Miniso, and Japanese fast-fashion brand Uniqlo—looking to gain ground in recent years. Eggs in many baskets The convenience store format is relatively new to India. Indian cigarette maker Godfrey Phillips aims to operate a couple of hundred round-the-clock convenience stores called 24Seven by the end of the ongoing fiscal year but there aren’t many other competitors on the map yet. Future Retail is investing in more than one strategy to win the space: It already has 1,300 Easyday members-only retail stores, which it plans to scale up to 10,000 in the next couple of years. The plan to introduce 7-Eleven stores across India is in addition to that. “However, we believe that this target is aspirational and with 7-Eleven coming in, higher focus might be on driving the expansion via 7-Eleven,” Sharma and Lohchab wrote. “…we believe that between the two, 7-Eleven has a better chance of success given a higher share of fast churning food segment (known for its beverages etc. ), better processes and brand.” Over time, 7-Eleven’s private label brands such as Big Bite hot dog and Big Gulp drinks could make their way to India, Jefferies noted. There’s a chance that the iconic Slurpee—the retail brand’s trademark carbonated slush drink of which it has sold 7.2 billion cups since its inception in 1966—may be available in neighbourhood stores across India, too.