It has taken a decade of research, three years of talks with a succession of domestic operators and a very public break-up with Bharti Enterprises to get here, but Tesco has, at last, found its Indian match.

Philip Clarke, fresh from a press conference in Mumbai, said it had been a "rollercoaster" of a day as he finally nailed a franchise deal to support Tata Group's roll-out of its Star Bazaar hypermarket chain and announced plans for its own cash-and-carry stores.