Bharti Family Office-backed Gourmet Investments Hospitality Group (GIHG) has signed a master franchise agreement to bring US casual-dining chain Olive Garden to India, aiming to open 100–125 outlets within three years, according to livemint.com.
The deal, announced on 18 May 2026, gives GIHG exclusive rights to operate Olive Garden across the country. Rohan Pewekar, CEO of GIHG, told livemint.com the brand will sit in the premium-casual segment, complementing the company’s existing portfolio that includes Chili’s and other international names. Site selection has begun in Delhi-NCR and Mumbai, with the first restaurant expected to launch before the December 2026 holiday season.
Olive Garden’s entry intensifies competition in India’s ₹25,000-crore organised casual-dining market, where players such as Speciality Restaurants, Jubilant FoodWorks’ Hong’s Kitchen and Lite Bite Foods’ Punjab Grill are already scaling. Comparable recent moves include Tata Consumer’s December 2025 tie-up with US-based First Watch for 80 cafés and K Hospitality’s February 2026 rollout of The Cheesecake Factory in Mumbai and Bengaluru, signalling strong investor appetite for proven Western brands.
GIHG’s next milestones include finalising supply-chain partners for imported cheeses and pasta, securing 15–20 high-street and mall locations by March 2027, and hiring 1,200 staff ahead of the phased rollout. Pewekar told livemint.com the company will also explore drive-thru formats in tier-2 cities once the metro footprint reaches 40 stores.