LONDON: Britain's biggest retail supermarket chain Tesco has announced plans to develop a wholesale cash-and-carry business in India in partnership with the Tata Group.Tesco is the world's third largest retailer. Its India plan worth 60 million pounds is the latest expansion as the company looks for new profit streams beyond its dominance of the British grocery market. Last year it opened stores in the United States and last month it announced a big push into banking.

Tesco's move into India follows its US rival and ASDA owner Wal-Mart, which recently teamed up with Bharti Enterprises in order to gain a foothold in India's retail industry.Philip Clarke, Tesco's international and IT director, said that his company was keen to set up its own retail business in India, should the legislation change."If and when it changes, our wholesale business and the agreement with the Tata Group give us great experience of the Indian marketplace and consumer," he said.

Tesco will, for an undisclosed fee, provide the Tata Group with its retail expertise and technical capability to help develop its hypermarket business.Clarke said that the company planned to open its first cash-and-carry outlet in Mumbai towards the end of next year, with further distribution hubs in Delhi and Bangalore.

These will support a network of smaller cash-and-carry stores supplying thousands of small retailers and restaurants.Tesco currently sources more than 170 million pounds worth of Indian products each year and has sourcing offices in New Delhi, Bangalore and Tirupur. It said it was too early to give an idea of the number of staff it would be recruiting for the venture.