Taco Bell enters India; targets 100 restaurants by 2015

US-based fast food brands operator Yum! Restaurants today launched its Mexican speciality chain Taco Bell in India with the first restaurant in Bangalore and said it plans to open up to 100 outlets by 2015.

Yum! Restaurants, which operates brands like Pizza Hut and KFC, said it is looking to tap the young consumer segment with Taco Bell's Mexican offerings as part of effort to increase footprints in the estimated one billion $ Indian fast food market.

"We are confident that Taco Bell will redefine the eating-out market in India with its value proposition and variety of delicacies. We have already signed up a few more properties in Bangalore and our aim is to have 100 outlets in India by 2015," Taco Bell India General Manager Ashok Bajpai told PTI.

He said the company will first target the markets in metros and then venture into tier II and II cities and each restaurant will be of around 3,000 sq ft.

"Over 60 per cent of Indian are below the age of 30 years and our focus customer are the youth and those who are young at heart. The Indian quick service restaurant market has been standstill for some time and we want to bring a breath of fresh air into it," Bajpai said.

The brand's global General Manager Andrew Waite was in Bangalore today to open the first Taco Bell outlet.

Bajpai said the price range of the items available in the outlets will be between Rs 18 and Rs 79. Customers can have unlimited quantity of Pepsi for a single time payment of Rs 35.

"With this price range we are creating a value proposition. Besides, half of the 22 items in our menu are vegetarian and we are also using certain Indian ingredients like paneer to add to the variety," he said.

The Louisville (Kentucky)-based company operates over 5,600 Taco Bell restaurants in the US, which specialises in Mexican items like tacos, burritos and quesdillos.

Currently, Yum! Restaurants also runs over 50 KFC and more than 110 Pizza Hut restaurants in India.