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The supermarket chain will invest around £85m in a partnership with Tata-owned Trent Limited, which already operates the Star Bazaar retail brand in the country.

Tesco became the first global retailer to be granted approval to open in India in December, after years of negotiations with the Indian Foreign Investment Promotion Board.

Trent Hypermarket Limited, in which Tesco will own a 50% stake, will operate 12 stores across the Southern and Western regions of India. The Star Bazaar and Star Daily-branded stores will offer range of grocery, personal and home care, home and kitchen, and fashion and accessories products.

Tesco has provided service supprot to Star Bazaar since 2008 under a franchise agreement.

It follows the decision by Tesco to sell its loss-making US grocery business Fresh & Easy last year. The chain, which operates 200 stores across California, Nevada and Arizona, was sold to investment firm Yucaipa Companies in September.

Separately, last month to return the supermarket brand to growth in the UK.