Thursday, August 13
Sweden's IKEA will more than double its investment in India to over 200 billion rupees ($2.20 billion) in the next five years as the furniture retailer plans to open more stores and increase sourcing locally, a top executive said on Monday. IKEA, which opened its first India store in 2018 in the southern city of Hyderabad, will begin accepting online orders in four other cities where it currently does not have a physical presence, including Chennai and Coimbatore, in Tamil Nadu state. "(India) is not a large IKEA country yet ... But the belief in India is very strong that it will be one of our top markets," said Patrik Antoni, CEO of IKEA India, in an interview with Reuters. The retailer's India sales rose 6% to 18.61 billion rupees in the year ended August 2025, and Anto
Even as India remains the fastest-growing major economy, with growth set to top 7%, global risks persist. Against this backdrop, corporate India wants a “boring and predictable” budget, one that will focus on simplification and long-term reforms over headline-grabbing measures. As finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman puts finishing touches on the February 1 budget, business leaders and economists said this isn’t the time to splurge at an ET-PwC pre-budget roundtable on Friday in Mumbai .With global uncertainty, tighter liquidity and rising trade tensions, India Inc wants the budget to maintain stability, build on recent gains and improve competitiveness, said the participants, who included Habil Khorakiwala, chairman of Wockhardt Group; Anish Shah, group CEO and MD of Mahindra Group;
