Emaar MGF Land Pvt., the Indian unit of the Middle East’s largest real-estate developer, is seeking an overseas partner to start a retail venture in the world’s second-most populous nation.

“Retail will play an important role in growth and diversification,” Shravan Gupta, vice chairman of New Delhi- based Emaar MGF, said in an interview in New Delhi today. “We are looking at a foreign company that’s not present in India. We can hand-hold them here.”

The developer, which is building at least five malls in India, plans to use its expertise in the property market to help an overseas partner establish a presence in the South Asian nation. Sales at chain stores in India may rise as much as 35 percent annually until 2015 to $80 billion, according to estimates by consultants McKinsey & Co.

Emaar MGF will also continue to focus on finishing its real-estate projects in India as slowing economic growth and high mortgage rates damp demand for homes in the country.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said Nov. 16 India’s pace of economic expansion may slow to between 7 percent and 7.5 percent this year, from an average of about 9 percent in the past four.

Overseas retailers including Carrefour SA are seeking partners in India because they’re barred from setting up or owning stakes in local retail chains. No such ban applies to wholesale stores.

Bentonville, Arkansas-based Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and India’s Bharti Group agreed last year to set up an equal joint venture to run wholesale stores and a supply chain. The venture plans to open 10 to 15 wholesale stores in seven years.

Tesco Plc, the U.K.’s biggest supermarket chain, chose Tata Group’s Trent Ltd. as its partner for a chain of wholesale stores in India.

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