Chinese Internet company LeEco is the newest to seek exemptions from the Indian governments, to open retail stores here. The company, which launched the Le 2 and Le Max 2 smartphones yesterday, is seeking exemption from the 30% local sourcing policy, required to open its own retail stores in India. LeEco has sought the FIPB’s (Foreign Investment Promotion Board) approval to run its own single branded retail stores in the country.
The company currently sells through online channels, with a partnership with Flipkart. LeEco also announced its own LeMall.com e-commerce portal to sell products in India. This is where the company will sell its accessories, along with smartphones. The company has said that it will start selling phones offline, through retail partnerships for now. LeEco will sell phones offline in New Delhi and Mumbai for now, and has plans to expand across India later.
LeEco is not the only company to ask for the exemption, though. US-based Apple, had earlier asked the Indian government for the same, but was met with rejection. Chinese counterpart, Xiaomi has also been pursuing the same exemption as well. The company applies for the single brand retail license in March, but withdrew the request later.
LeEco has spent only a few months in India, but the company says it has sold 5 lakh smartphones in its first 100 days. The company has also announced a plan to invest $10 million in setting up a cloud/CDN network in India.