Décathlon has obtained the approval of India's Foreign Investment Promotion Board to open its first stores for the general public in the country, controlling them at 100 percent. According to reports, the French chain is planning to invest around €100 million to expand in India, but a spokesman for its parent company, Oxylane, said he could not comment on this because the project is still under discussion. Like in the case of Ikea, which obtained a similar approval for an investment plan of €1.5 billion, much may depend on local sourcing of private label items. Décathlon, which already has some 50 stores in China, entered India with a pilot cash-and-carry operation in Bangalore three years ago that has been selling its products at wholesale to other companies and institutions, and it later added a similar one in Mumbai. Because of the former legislation, Walmart and Carrefour have pursued a similar business model in the country.

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