Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Retail to Launch 7-Eleven Stores Across India

The first store will open in Mumbai on Saturday, 9 October.

File photo of Reliance Industries Chairman Mukesh Ambani.

(Photo: PTI)

The retail arm of Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Industries, on Thursday, 7 October, said it would be launching 7-Eleven convenience stores across India, with its first round-the-clock store opening in Mumbai on Saturday, 9 October, reported the BBC.

This development comes just days after Future Group, the second-largest retailer in India, ended a similar deal with the US chain, as it could not meet the store opening targets or pay the franchise fees.

Reliance Retail Ventures said in a statement that they would be rapidly rolling out the 7-Eleven stores in "key neighbourhoods and commercial areas across the Greater Mumbai cluster to start with".

The company further said that Reliance Retail Ventures is India's largest and the most profitable retailer in India, having a turnover of $21bn (£15.5bn).

"India is the second-largest country in the world and has one of the fastest-growing economies. It's an ideal time for the largest convenience retailer in the world to make our entry into India," president and chief executive officer of 7-Eleven Inc, Joe DePinto, said, as per the BBC.

The deal is being seen as the latest move by the Reliance Group to better compete with Amazon.com and Walmart Inc's Flipkart.

Headquartered in Texas, the 7-Eleven chain has more than 77,000 stores in 18 countries.

(With inputs from BBC and Reuters.)