Industria de Diseño Textil, S.A. (Arteixo, Spain), the parent company of the Zara specialty apparel chain, will set up shop in India, in partnership with Tata Group (Mumbai), the Indian conglomerate.
According to the Times of London, the move is part of an aggressive global expansion plan by Europe's largest clothing chain.
Inditex will take a 51 percent stake in the joint venture with Trent, the retail arm of Tata, which already has a partnership with Tesco PLC (Cheshunt, U.K.). Indian law prevents overseas groups that sell more than one brand of merchandise from wholly owning retailing operations. The companies expect to open stores in Delhi, Mumbai and other Indian cities next year.
Inditex currently has Zara outlets in 73 countries, from Russia to Guatemala.