<P> Tesco has had a limited presence in India with a service centre in Bangalore, and outsourcing . In 2008 Tesco announced their intention to invest an initial £ 60m ($115 m) to open a wholesale cash - and - carry business based in Mumbai with the assistance of the Tata Group . In 2014, the joint venture between Tesco and Tata was confirmed, where investment by the earlier was reportedly 140 milling dollars, thus becoming the first foreign supermarket to enter the country . The stores are now operated under the banner Star Bazaar hypermarkets (bazaar translating to market) and Star Daily supermarkets . </P> <P> Tesco Japan first began operations in 2003 . It was brought about by a buy - out of C Two stores for £ 139 million in July 2003 and later Fre'c in April 2004 . Tesco has adopted an approach that focuses on small corner shops that operate similarly to its Express format, rather than opening hypermarkets . It has also launched its range of software in Japan . In August 2011, Tesco announced that they would be selling off their Japanese stores to ÆON after revealing that only half of the stores in the Greater Tokyo Area were making a profit . Market share in the country was never above 1 percent . </P> <P> Tesco opened its first store in Malaysia in May 2002 with the opening of its first hypermarket in Puchong, Selangor . Tesco Malaysia currently operates 49 Tesco and Tesco Extra stores . Tesco has partnered with local conglomerate Sime Darby Berhad, which holds 30% of the shares . </P> <P> In 2007, Tesco acquired the Malaysian operation of the wholesaler Makro, which was then rebranded as Tesco Extra and provides products for local retailers . There has been plans to relaunch all its stores in Malaysia to Tesco Extra . Besides giving the store a contemporary design and a brighter look, the new Tesco Extra brand features a shop - in - shop concept with an optic shop, pharmacy, bistro and phone shop . Till date, 7 out of the 52 outlets have been rebranded to the new format namely: Tesco Extra Mutiara Damansara, Tesco Extra Bandar Bukit Puchong, Tesco Extra Ara Damansara, Tesco Extra Seberang Jaya, Tesco Extra Desa Tebrau, Tesco Extra Bandar Bukit Tinggi in Klang, Tesco Extra Mutiara Rini and Tesco Extra Ipoh Garden . </P>

When did tesco open its first store in asia