In the early 1990s, Executive Chairman Ravi Mehrotra was personally invited by the then Deputy Mayor of Shanghai to found the city’s first upscale Indian restaurant. The Tandoor Shanghai duly opened in October 1994 in the Jin Jiang Hotel. The decor is visually stunning, and to ensure authenticity, furniture and artefacts were brought from India, as were expert chefs, waiting staff and entertainers and special ingredients. Its success led to branches in Beijing and Chengdu and expansion to India where The Chinese was opened to great acclaim in New Delhi. New openings are now being sought in Mauritius.
In 1999, Foresight and GTFC Limited (Chennai, India) began an expansion phase to establish a state-of-the-art footwear component manufacturing plant. In 2004, The Shoe Club Limited was established to facilitate the sourcing of leather footwear from India and Asia for European retailers and wholesalers. Then, in 2008, Foresight Smart Ventures was created to focus on India’s dynamic growth opportunities with a focus on retailing, starting with premium footwear brand retail in India. Facilities include state of the art manufacturing in Tamil Nadu supported by in house R&D expertise, international marketing and close to 100 retail outlets in India selling branded comfort footwear – mainly Pavers England and Stacato brands. The Division has ambitions to expand in other related areas.
Utsav Seth, Managing Director, Foresight Smart Ventures
Sudhir Mittoo, Acting Director Operations, China
B Nanban, Joint Managing Director, Foresight Smart Ventures (Footwear Division)