Hyderabad : Swedish home furnishing major IKEA, which is all set to open its first Indian store in Hyderabad on Thursday, is looking to keep prices even lower in India than it typically does elsewhere, overcoming high taxes on imported goods as it woos cost-conscious shoppers unaccustomed to DIY furniture.
Its Group CEO Jesper Brodin said that India must look at incentivising local production rather than penalising imports.
He said high import duties on items would only make customers pay the price as it does not necessarily translate into local manufacturing excellence. “Our point of view is that it would be better to incentivise local production than to penalise imports,” Brodin said.
The store is 4,00,000 sq.ft. large and spread over 13 acres. IKEA said it is looking to expand here at a faster pace as compared to elsewhere.
The company which is looking to set up 25 stores in India by 2025 will also enter e-commerce segment by next year, besides exploring small format stores as part of expansion plans in the country.
UAE-based Danube Home is also entering India. Danube Home, the home furnishing arm of Danube Group, is also opening its first store in Hyderabad.
Danube, said to be the biggest home furnishing company in the Middle East, has taken leased premises to open the store at Kothaguda, near HITEC City.