Ikea bets big on India

Furniture giant Ikea is set to open its first store and restaurant in India after years of trying but arguably its most famous item is off the menu -- Swedish meatballs.

Ikea, the world's biggest furniture retailer, will next month cut the ribbon on a massive 37,000 square metre outlet in the southern city of Hyderabad, complete with a 1,000-seater cafeteria.

The restaurant will be Ikea's largest and will cater to local tastes, with religious sensitivities in India dictating that beef and pork, staples of Swedish meatballs, will not be served.

"There will be chicken meatballs and vegetarian balls," Patrik Antoni, Ikea's deputy country manager for India, told AFP during an interview in the Indian financial capital of Mumbai.

"Fifty percent of the food will be Swedish inspired, salmon and shrimp dishes and so on. We'll also have quite a few Indian dishes like dal makhani, biryani, samosas," he added.

The Swedish multinational, which revolutionised household furnishings with its range of affordable ready-to-assemble products, is betting big on India as it seeks new revenues away from its key Western markets.

Ikea plans to invest $1.5 billion in Asia's third-largest economy as it seeks to lure price-sensitive Indians away from satisfying their furniture needs at local, family-run shops.