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The East India Company (EIC)is heading back to India. Not as a commercial trading company this time, but a fine food retailer and real estate player in the luxury segment.
With the Mahindra Group picking up over 10 per cent in the world’s oldest brand, the London-based EIC is now waiting to make a formal foray into India with its rich chocolates, exotic coffees, rare teas and even luxury apartments by 2016.
Mumbai-born diamond dealer Sanjiv Mehta, who owns EIC, is looking forward to his Indian sojourn by rolling out fine food outlets, and hoping that the duty structure for luxury goods gets rationalised in the near future.
Recession “The world has now come out of recession and this is the time to execute our retail and real estate projects. The East India Company is a brand with huge recognition across the world. In India, there is enough demand for luxury goods and we want to be present in the luxury malls in places such as Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore with 7-10 stores and also venture into the real estate sector by 2016-17,” said CEO Mehta.
The firm intends to enter the luxury real estate sector under its own brand of apartments with the help of a global partner in the UK, the US and India.
“Although the Mahindra Group is also into real estate, we would be partnering with a global player to set up branded apartments in places like Boston, London, Singapore and even Mumbai and Delhi,” said Mehta.
In India, the company expects to make a foray into retail stores and branded apartments almost simultaneously by 2016-17. “The price of land in India is an issue, and so is the high duty structure at almost 130 per cent on the landed cost of luxury items like teas. We are hoping for a simplified duty structure, which would take care of some of these issues,” he added. The firm is also exploring new retail channels like corporate and season gifting.
Apart from its 10 standalone stores across the world, EIC also has formats such as kiosks and shop-in-shops in high-street destinations such as Mayfair Garden and within the Harrods store in the UK.
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