Either Casino or Carrefour for Parsvnath

For its retail foray, construction major may also rope in Bharti.

Parsvnath Developers, the country's fourth largest listed real estate firm, is in talks with French retailers Groupe Casino and Carrefour for its retail foray.

"We intend to enter retail with hypermarkets and supermarkets with a known international retailer," said Pradeep Jain, chairman, Parsvnath.

He added an announcement is likely within the next few weeks. The company owns 14 million square feet of retail space across 50 cities.

A Parsvnath executive added the company is also in talks with Carrefour, the world's second largest retailer, also based in France. "Carrefour is talking to Parsvnath for running its franchise in India," he said.

Current government norms do not permit foreign multi-brand retailers to directly operate in the country. Indian firms can, however, open franchisee stores of foreign retailers. India's current organised retail market of about $12 billion is expected to leapfrog to about $78 billion in the next five years, according to retail consulting firm Technopak Advisors.

Casino Group, with net sales of around Euro 22 billion last year, has around 10,000 stores across 11 countries. Its global operations include 362 hypermarkets, 2,067 supermarkets, 6,295 neighbourhood convenience stores, 717 discount stores and 507 restaurants.

Last week, Carrefour had announced a two-pronged strategy for India: wholly owned operations for wholesale cash-and-carry and front-end stores with a franchise partner.

Parsvnath is also on the verge of signing a real estate deal with Bharti Retail for stores at around 100 locations.

"Bharti Retail will be present in virtually all our malls and townships. The deal will be signed any day now," said Jain, adding that Bharti Retail would be either leasing these shops or buying them.

Earlier this year, Bharti Retail had announced an investment of $2.5 billion to build hypermarkets and supermarkets by 2015, targeting a turnover of $4.5 billion. It has been scouting for retail space, of around 10 million square feet.