Lululemon Athletica, a Canadian athletic apparel retailer known as the inventor of yoga pants, plans to enter India to capitalise on the upswing in demand for fitness and athleisure wear. The global team of Lululemon has been scouting for locations where it could open stores in the country.

The company is likely to enter independently, and have held talks with a few mall developers in Mumbai, Delhi and Bangalore, and discussed about the new mall development in the metro cities.

Three years ago, the Canadian company opened a tech hub in Bengaluru, its first outside North America, for incorporating data science, machine learning, and full-stack cloud engineering to support merchandise planning, and location information management. It operates in over 25 countries, and opened 56 new company-operated stores last year, contributing to a 15 percent increase in square footage.

Lululemon Athletica is a designer, distributor, and retailer of athletic apparel, footwear, and accessories.