Bullish on the growth of the food retail sector, McDonalds has said it will be augmenting its presence further in India and expand to newer cities, including beefing up its presence in non-metro cities. "We expect the food services retail business to continue its growth momentum and grow at 40% this year," McDonalds India Managing Director and Joint Venture partner for north India Vikram Bakshi said.

Bakshi, whose company Connaught Plaza Restaurants owns and operates the US food giant's operations in north India, said McDonalds would be closing this financial year with 55 full-menu restaurants, six 'Express' stores and as many kiosks, for which it would be hiring about 750 people. Outlining its expansion plans for the next fiscal, Bakshi said McDonalds will add another 20 full-menu restaurants, 10 kiosks and ten express stores. The company would also be entering the eastern India region in the next two years. On 2007 plans, he said McDonalds would continue to spread in non-metro areas by opening a new restaurant in Allahabad and adding one each in Ludhiana and Lucknow.

NamNews - Monday 19th September 2005

 

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