If you thought the Maharaja Mac was as far as they’d go, guess again! McDonald’s announced today that they’re planning to open a few vegetarian-only restaurants in India in 2013. After dropping beef and pork from all their menus across Indian outlets the new restaurants are meant to cater to pilgrims and these will feature their ever popular McVeggie burger, McSpicy Paneer and the McAloo Tikki burger!
McDonald’s first vegetarian-only outlet will open in mid-2013, near the Golden Temple in the Sikh holy city of Amritsar in northern India, where consumption of meat is forbidden at the shrine, and the next at Vaishno Devi in Indian Kashmir.
According to The Wall Street Journal India is still a relatively small market for McDonalds, with just about 270 restaurants out of its 33,000 world-wide. Its American competitor, Yum Brands Inc. which owns KFC, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell, has about 480 locations in India. So it’s game on for the fast food giants!