Plans for expansion into India by British retailer Tesco have been approved by the Foreign Investment Promotion Board.
The company intends to invest £68 million in a chain of supermarkets in partnership with the Tata Group.
The BBC reports Tesco is the first global food retailer to obtain approval to invest in India since the government decided to open the supermarket sector last year.
The company has been in partnership with Tata since 2008 and already supplies much of the produce in its Star Bazaar shops.
Hennes & Mauritz (H&M) has also been given final approval by India's government to open stores there.
The Swedish retailer announced in early December it planned to invest 7.2 billion rupees (£70.2 million) and intends to open 50 stores across the country.
