How is the Indian retail market developing?
In the food sector, there are virtually no foreign retailers left: Metro AG sold its stake to a local player at the end of 2022, Carrefour left in 2014… Food distribution remains highly fragmented, with informal trade accounting for around 93% of the market. Indian consumers are not prepared to travel far for their food purchases. We are still constrained by the lack of quality retail space. Domestic talent is still very limited. Since October 2020, I have also been the Director of the Retailers Association of India (RAI), which has 5,000 members and around 500,000 stores. As well as federating the community (training, insights), we are working closely with the government to define a policy framework that is attractive to both retailers and foreign investment.
