India’s booming economy has caught the eye of leading French luxury brands with at least a dozen of them planning to launch outlets at India's fashion and lifestyle hubs. As such the hunt is on for potential local partners and senior bureaucrats.

Louis Vuitton, which already has its outlets in several five-star hotels in Delhi and Mumbai, has plans to scale up its presence in the national capital as well as set up new outlets in Bangalore, Hyderabad, Chennai and Kolkata.

Fragrances, accessories and apparel brand leader, Chanel, intends to expand its business by opening more points of sales in Mumbai.

The Indian government currently allows 51 % foreign direct investment in single brand retail. As such companies like Louis Vuitton and Hermes have started lobbying for lifting the FDI threshold.

Championing the cause was visiting French Trade Minister Christine Lagarde. In fact Commerce and Industry Minister Kamal Nath assured him, during a recent meeting, of the government’s commitment towards improving trade relations and added that the government would even examine reducing the customs duty on the import of luxury brands.

Indo-Russian bilateral trade is likely to receive a shot in its arm with attempts to boost textile exports.

An official of the Moscow-based Indian Business Association (IBA) said that with the improvement in the economic situation, a large number of Indian traders are keen on entering the Russian textile market. However, the need for a coordinated approach is felt in order to do away with bureaucratic hassles for exports to the Russian Federation.

Indian Textile Minister Shanker Singh Vaghela visited Moscow to address these issues and held talks with officials of the Russian textile industry, importers and garment manufacturers.

India, the largest exporter of textiles to the former Soviet Union, lost its dominance post the break-up. In boosting textile trade, India aims to increase bilateral trade with Russia to US $ 10 bn by 2010.