17 retail players among top 500

The Indian retail industry has finally come of age with seventeen Indian players finding a mention in the 'Top 500 Retail Asia-Pacific Rankings 2005' report published by Retail Asia magazine.

China with 87 companies is in the top 500. It not only heads the list, but has also overtaken Japan, which had 72 companies in the list. Korea and Taiwan come next with 48 companies each, followed by Australia (40), Hong Kong (38) and Singapore (31).

According to the report, Japan dominated in terms of overall sales and also had the highest retail sales per capita. But, India and China were both gaining ground, with far higher and sustained growth over the past few years.

The Indian economy grew at 8 per cent last year and consumer spending has been increasing by 11 per cent over the past decade. The combined effect was a 29 per cent surge in the retail sales growth for the Indian retailers in the top 500 list, the report said.

The Indian economy was one of the fastest-growing in the world and the retail sector contributed to 10 per cent of India's GDP and 6 per cent of its employment, the survey said.

The survey has estimated the Indian retail industry to be worth around US $286 billion. Overall, the retail industry is expected to grow at around 8 per cent between 2003 and 2008.

The report further added that India had a large pool of labour""estimated at around 487 million. "Labour costs are among the lowest in the region. As modern retailing is just emerging, retailers entering India need to invest in the training of resources," the report said.

Deepankar Sanwalka, head-consumer markets practice, KPMG India, said while retailing in the country was highly fragmented, the structure was developing rapidly, with shopping malls becoming increasingly common in large cities and development plans being projected at 150 new shopping malls by 2008.

"According to our survey, the annual growth of department stores has been estimated at 24 per cent, which is faster than overall retail, and supermarkets have taken an increased share of general food and grocery trade over the last two decades," he added.