Hyderabad: Ikea is looking to keep prices even lower in India than it typically does elsewhere when it opens its first store in the country on Thursday, overcoming high taxes on imported goods as it woos cost-conscious shoppers unaccustomed to do-it-yourself furniture.

Over a decade since floating the idea of Indian expansion, the Swedish retailer will finally mark its entry with a 400,000 square foot (37,160 square metre) store in Hyderabad, where it will sell 1,000 items, including cutlery and stuffed toys.

Ikea is pushing into Asia and South America as growth slows in Europe and other traditional markets. It is betting on India with its growing middle class, but mindful of the relatively high pricing that hit sales when entering China and Australia.

The firm had previously said raising the proportion of locally sourced materials would help it to overcome import duties which would otherwise make it challenging to keep prices low.

Regulation dictates Ikea must source at least 30 per cent of materials locally within five years of starting operations. It already sources about a fifth of its global supplies from India.

Group chief executive Jesper Brodin, at a news conference on Wednesday, said India will become one of Ikea's biggest sourcing markets in the future.

At present, its top suppliers are China, Poland and Italy.

Brodin feels India must look at incentivising local production rather than penalising imports.

High import duties on items will only make customers pay the price as it does not necessarily translate into local manufacturing excellence.

"Our point of view is that it would be better to incentivise local production than to penalise imports," he said.

Brodin also said he wants Ikea to be more affordable and accessible in India.

Ikea's new India website showed popular products at lower prices than in the United States, for instance.

The white variation of its best-selling Billy bookcase is cheaper by a fifth and the dark-grey Ektorp sofa is priced 30 per cent lower.