American coffee giant Starbucks plans to make India one of its two largest markets outside the US, along with China.

CEO Howard Schultz said Starbucks plans to open “thousands of stores” across India in the “not-too-distant” future.

“I believe China and India offer Starbucks some of the greatest opportunities for growth,” he said.

Starbucks, which entered India in October last year, currently has 25 stores in Mumbai, Delhi and Pune. Schultz said the company has waited six years to enter India and he said it was not that easy.

However, he is beginning to see that all the important pre-requisites for success are falling into place.

“Our plan over time is that the number of our stores in India will rival the size and scale of what we have planned for China – thousands of stores,” said Schultz.