This is how Hyderabad, and not Mumbai or Bengaluru, became IKEA’s first India destination

With the government of India relaxing the sourcing norms for foreign direct investment (FDI) in single-brand retail in 2012, Swedish furniture and home furnishing chain IKEA announced in October their intention to open stores in India. Pratap (M Pratap, Indian administrative services officer and CEO of APInvest, Andhra Pradesh’s investment initiative) found out the contact name and phone number of Juvencio Maeztu, the CEO of IKEA India. Juvencio, the perfect gentleman that I found him to be later, was polite and made the right noises, assuring me that he would come and meet me.