Is Costco Really Coming To Hyderabad Soon?

Yesterday, there were a series of reports about leading United States retail chain Costco, coming to Hyderabad for their upcoming series of operation. It was established that Hyderabad could be witnessing a series of supermarkets from Costco, which are known in the United States for their affordable prices.

Virtually everyone got excited about the prospect of Costco entering the Indian market through Hyderabad very soon, and there was a lot of discussion happening on the same. However, the latest developments are suggesting that there is very little chance that the leading retail product chain in the United States could be entering the Hyderabad market anytime soon.

While Costco's GCC ( IT hub) in Hyderabad is confirmed, the chances of Costco stores in India look slim. India still does not allow 100% FDI in multi brand retail, which makes Costco’s model difficult to execute. This leaves them with two options: operate purely in B2B like Metro or Walmart Best Price, or enter with an Indian partner holding 51% ownership. It’s hard to imagine Costco giving up a 49% stake in India just to enter the Indian market.

The only other workaround would be to sell only Kirkland products and position itself as a single brand retailer, similar to IKEA. But Costco changing its global business model just for India seems highly unlikely. But at the same time, interestingly, Costco also posted welcoming India to "Retail Network". This is leading to a speculation that Costco may open stores too. With tariffs eased, it actually seems like a possibility. But for now, we have to patiently wait and see if the company would actually open its retail outlets in the city, or its the other way around.