India's organised retail sector, which attracted numerous players in the last year, with big names like Bharti, Reliance and Aditya Birla trying to establish foothold, is set to witness manifold growth in times to come.
The lively sector will see an expansion in operations of existing players and the debut of others like Mahindra & Mahindra (BSE:500520), Parsvnath (BSE:532780), DLF (BSE:532868), Hero Honda (BSE:500182) and Indiabulls.
Industry estimates predict that the overall size of the retail sector in India is expected to touch US$427 billion by 2010 and US$637 billion by 2015 with the organised segment expected to account for 22 per cent by 2010, up from the present four per cent.
"Overall, the future looks promising notwithstanding the immediate hurdles," Asitava Sen, KSA Technopak's vice-president of retail and consumer goods, told PTI.
Looking back, the sector faced quite a few hurdles in the last year, such as the controversy over the involvement of foreign direct investors (FDI) in multi-brand retail and a nationwide protest by small traders against the bigger fishes.
The government's plans to open up the retail sector for foreign firms remained in cold storage in 2007, while domestic companies strengthened their foothold in the sensitive industry, despite agitation by smaller traders.
Political opposition stopped the government from allowing greater foreign investment, yet the w
