McDonalds to open 40 new restaurants by year end

Chandigarh, Feb 11 (UNI) McDonalds India will open 40 new restaurants across the country by the end of this year and will be be investing Rs 400 crore in next three years.

"This will be the fastest growth for the company in a year so far in India which will take the total Mcdonalds outlets to 171," said Mr Vikram Bakshi, Managing Director McDonalds India (Northern and Eastern Region) while launching its second restaurant here today.

''After establishing ourselves in Metros, we are now constantly exploring new geographies, including the highways and the tier 2 cities, which we feel have a great market potential, ''he said.

With the opening of its second restaurant in the city, the total number of McDonalds restaurants in the country goes up to 131, with 78 in the northern and eastern region and 53 in the southern region.

''Under our expansion plan for Punjab, we will be opening five more restaurants in the state including in cities like Ropar and Patiala. Presently, the region has five restaurants." The company is also exploring possibilties for opening its food processing plant in Punjab and Haryana.

''We still have a large scope for expansion in India as our presence here is rather miniscule when compared to other countries like China, which has 900 McDonald restaurants, and Japan which has 3800 despite its tiny size,'' he said.

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