News: Starbucks to enter India by 2007-end

(DNA 10/05/2007) Mumbai - Clearing speculations on its entry into India, the world's biggest coffee chain Starbucks Coffee International said it will open its first store in India by the end of this year.

"We target opening the doors of our first store by the end of 2007 in either New Delhi or Mumbai," Starbucks Coffee International Corporate Communications (Asia Pacific) T May Kulthol said.

The US-based company has been working closely with the Ministry of Commerce and Industry to understand better the existing foreign investment regulations, he said.

"We are looking forward to offering the finest coffee in the world, handcrafted beverages, legendary service and the unique Starbucks experience to customers in India," he said.

For the purpose, the company has submitted a revised application to the government on April 13 to operate single -brand retail stores in the country with a restructured entity.

Starbucks entry into India became controversial when the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) rejected the previous application filed by the company's franchisee New Horizons, co-owned by NRI V P Sharma and Kishore Biyani, in December on the grounds that it exceeded 51 per cent FDI limit.