Carrefour returns to India and opens in Noida (Delhi). 50 stores planned

Carrefour reopens its Indian chapter, 12 years after the closure of its first and only 5 pilot stores. The plan is substantial and has a highly prominent partner.

The first hypermarket of the new venture opened on Friday 14 August 2026 in Delhi, in the suburban city of Noida. And the target, for now without a timetable, is to reach around fifty stores.

Carrefour chooses Apparel Group

This time, the French retailer moved forward with the backing of an exceptional partner, Apparel Group of Dubai, focused mainly on brands in fashion and beauty: Tommy Hillfifger, Adidas, Bruno Magli, Clarks, Birkestock Havaianas, Clinique, Clarins... But its portfolio also includes discount retailers, such as the Canadian Dollar Plus (non-food) and pizza-fast-food restaurants, including Pizza Nyc.

The agreement with Apparel dates back to 2024, a sign that the operation had been under consideration for a long time.

The Emirati group is a true powerhouse: founded in 1996, it describes itself as a leading player in clothing retail and the food and beverage sector.

With more than 24.000 employees, Apparel manages a portfolio of more than 85 brands and around 2.600 stores in more than 14 countries across the Middle East, India, South-East Asia and Africa.

The master franchisor is well established in the Indian subcontinent, where it operates a network of around 300 outlets in more than 35 cities and 15 states.

2014: the reasons for the exit

Carrefour's first Indian foray, which lasted from 2010 to 2014, led to its withdrawal mainly because, after the government authorised foreign companies to open large wholesale outlets, the French retailer had gone it alone.

Moreover, it had relied too heavily on still-fragile legislation, which caused negotiations with a potential ally, Bharti Enterprises, to collapse at the last minute. In the meantime, Bharti had lost Walmart as a client and was looking for a new partner in the mass market.

Back to the present. The capital's store is a small hypermarket, with a sales area of 4.000 sq m, and a strong assortment of 15.000 product references.

India, a promised land

Strictly speaking, the plan should unfold as expected: Apparel, as we have seen, is certainly no novice, given its vast portfolio, which generates an estimated turnover equivalent of at least 3,5 billion US dollars.

Carrefour, for its part, without dwelling on figures well known to the reader, is constantly looking for new countries to colonise, having abandoned various markets that were too competitive or insufficiently profitable, such as Italy, Romania and Turkey, and then Jordan, Oman, Kuwait and Bahrain, where the network was managed by the Majid Al Futtaim group.

That the Indian market is a new business horizon is no mystery. The country's population is the largest in the world, 1,47 billion people, with an average age of around 30 years, and the lower middle class is developing. Technology and digital infrastructure are advancing by leaps and bounds, and the government of Narendra Modi (People's Party) has launched a robust and highly serious programme of incentives and tax relief for businesses.

In certain cases, such as foreign companies supplying machinery, equipment and components for local production, the tax exemption programme will continue until 2041.

APPAREL GROUP ON THE MAP

This article was translated from the original Italian version with the assistance of artificial intelligence. In case of discrepancies, please refer to the original Italian version.