Tesco seemed to edge closer to launching a joint venture in India this week, when its finance director appeared to suggest that talks with a potential partner had advanced beyond the exploratory phase.

Andrew Higginson said: “We would never comment on specifics, but are pleased with the way discussions are going,” in response to a newspaper article that the grocer was in exclusive talks with a preferred partner to break into the burgeoning market.

Tesco has been researching the Indian market for at least two years and has held talks with numerous potential joint venture partners. The Cheshunt-based grocer was widely expected to partner with Bharti Enterprises to launch a chain in India, but a potential deal collapsed at the end of 2006. A Tesco spokesman declined to comment on the speculation, but said it was “no secret we are very interested in the Indian market”.

However, even if a deal was unveiled tomorrow, Tesco launching in India could still be a few years away. Wal-Mart agreed a deal Bharti Enterprises in late 2006, following Tesco walking away, but the first cash and carry stores will not open until later this year. Laying the foundation for a store network and supply chain infrastructure to meet Sir Terry Leahy's exacting tastes will take a considerable length of time.

The fact is, India represents a completely different set of challenges to any that Tesco will have encountered on its travels to California, China and Thailand. Above all, India’s transport infrastructure is still years behind that of more developed countries. Whether it is by road or rail, travel in India is a slow process, which presents fresh-food retailers with substantial challenges.

Granted, Reliance Retail has proved a large-scale grocery chain can be launched at a rapid speed, but infrastructure weaknesses mean Tesco’s legendary caution when launching any operation is likely to be extended even further in India.

Tesco is also unlikely to rush a launch in India, given its substantial teething problems with its fledgling Fresh & Easy chain in the US. The revelation that Tesco is to pause the roll-out of the convenience store chain will have pleased Piper Jaffray analyst Mike Dennis, who has been the most vociferous critic of Fresh & Easy’s performance, despite the grocer rubbishing his claims about sales being substantially below target.

That said, Tesco will no doubt be putting into practice many of the lessons learned from its rapid roll-out of 59 stores since November and a renewed opening onslaught should recommence later this year.

On a wider scale, recent reports about Tesco losing its direction and underperforming have been wildly exaggerated. Yes, it is under renewed pressure from UK rivals and has embarked on a large cost-cutting drive and there have been some redundancies on these shores. And, yes, it has temporarily stopped selling clothes online, but it is committed to launching a combined food and fashion offer over the next year.

But Leahy’s business is still a well-oiled machine that is pushing forward, driven by international sales growing at a pace that most store chiefs would give their right arm for. According to this week’s TNS Worldpanel data, Tesco’s sales rose 6.5 per cent, which was below Morrisons’ 11.4 per cent and Asda’s 8 per cent, but ahead of Sainsbury’s 5.3 per cent.

When Tesco posts its full-year results on April 15, the retail world should expect confirmation that its wheels are firmly fixed on and rotating quickly. But, unless a deal has been signed with an Indian partner, Leahy is likely to give anything away beyond his customary cheeky grin. Furthermore, irrespective of when Tesco strikes a deal in India, as it surely will, India is unlikely to be a major contributor to its bottom line for several years to come.