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Our Bureau

New Delhi , Feb. 3

YUM! Restaurants, which owns fast food chains such as Pizza Hut and KFC, is on an expansion spree in India.

The company plans to double the number of KFC restaurants in the country from the current 11. Cities in which it would set up outlets include Mumbai, Delhi and Chennai this year. Yum! has been following the franchisee model with Pizza Hut and KFC in India so far. However, it would be directly investing in setting up 4-5 KFCs, each of which would require an investment of around Rs 2.5 crore.

Currently, KFC is present in six metros including Bangalore, Hyderabad and Chandigarh.

The company also plans to open 35-40 Pizza Hut restaurants across the country this year. Pizza Hut, which is a flagship brand of Yum! Restaurants, would be opening more outlets in Bangalore, Mumbai, Pune and Chennai.

"There is tremendous potential in the metros and we plan to expand our presence in towns such as Jalandhar, Ludhiana and Indore in this year," Mr Arvind Mediratta, Chief Marketing Officer, Yum! Restaurants International, said.

Pizza Hut last year recorded a growth of 45 per cent and Mr Mediratta felt that this figure would be sustainable in the future as well.

The food chain that entered the Indian markets nine years ago has also changed its brand positioning from `good time, great pizzas' to `treat you just can't beat.' It has also roped in actor Jaaved Jaaferi as its brand ambassador for a year to market its new meal combos.

On marketing spends of the company, Mr Mediratta said, "Yum! has been allocating around Rs 15 crore-20 crore each year to marketing and advertising activities which amounts to nearly one per cent of the total turnover of the company."

Pizza Hut now has 125 restaurants across 31 cities in India.

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