Spain-born Juvencio Maeztu has been appointed as the Country Manager for IKEA Retail India, as official from the Swedish furniture retailer has revealed.

The news of appointment of Maeztu as the chief of the IKEA's Indian operations came just a day after the furniture giant filed the finbal part of its application with the Indian Government to start in India.

Maeztu has reportedly been serving IKEA for the last twelve years. Most recently, he was shouldering responsibility for IKEA's London business.

The newly-appointed chief has been assigned with the task of finding the right real-estate location and appointing talent for the company's Indian operation.

When contacted, he said that IKEA had a lot of learning and understanding to do in the world's second most populous country. However, he added, "We don't know yet what our plan is. At this point ther are many questions to be solved."

IKEA was among the earliest overseas retailers to announce plans to enter the Indian market after the government opened the single-brand retail sector to foreign investors.

The Swedish furniture retailer has plans to invest around _1.5 billion (Rs 10,500 crore) to establish twenty-five stores over the next ten years. It is expected to open stores on the outskirts of Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore, Chennai and Hyderabad.