NEW DELHI: American fast food company Yum Brands, which operates Pizza Hut, Taco Bell and KFC, has committed to open 600 outlets of Taco Bell in India and employ around 20,000 people. This will make India the second largest market for Taco Bell outside the US.

Taco Bell International’s president Liz Williams on Wednesday announced that the company has signed a master franchise agreement with Burman Hospitality led by Gaurav Burman, a scion of the group, which runs consumer goods company Dabur. Taco Bell, which serves Mexican inspired fare, such as burritos and tacos, will also open cloud kitchens in the domestic market.

“We plan to open 600 restaurants in India over a period of 10 years. Currently, there are 7,000 Taco Bell restaurants in the US alone. Rest of the 500 restaurants are located in other countries,” said Williams.

“The agreement of master franchise gives us the confidence to spend family money in the venture. It enables us to protect what we have built over the years such as Indiaspecific equipment and kitchen designs we have developed for Taco Bell,” Burman told TOI. The investment per store will be around Rs 3 crore. Burman said the master franchise agreement with Taco Bell will allow Burman Hospitality to grant sub-franchise agreements to third parties.

“We would first focus on building scale and we will do it on our own. Once we do that, we would look at inviting other partners,” he added. Yum-promoted Pizza Hut and KFC together operate around 800 outlets across India. The Indian food service sector is currently estimated at Rs 4,23,865 crore and is projected to reach Rs 5,99,784 crore by 2023, according to the latest report by the National Restaurant Association in India.