New Delhi, Nov 28 (IANS) Over 325 Indian and foreign companies will be seeking partners for doing business in India at the Franchise India 2010 - an annual convention for firms looking for potential franchisees or franchisors.

Starting Dec 11, the two-day summit, will be dominated by food and beverage firms and will also include real estate brands, said Gaurav Marya, president of Franchise India Holding Ltd.

Among the 40 international participants are pizza chain Sabarro, a Singapore based micro-brewery and a cafe brand from Russia.

Last year, the summit resulted in about Rs.100 crore of transactions. Marya expects a 30 percent jump in this figure.

"We expect a 30 percent jump in the quantum of transactions. Last year, people still had the global slowdown at the back of their minds. However, this year has been much better. Indian traders had a good Diwali season and have cash in hand. New malls have opened up. So we expect business to improve significantly," said Marya.

Large international businesses have often used the franchise route to explore potential and expand footprint in India, given the expertise local partners bring in such a large, diverse country.

In India, the business format franchise in which the franchisor gives the permission to the franchisee for use of product or brand is a Rs.80,000 crore (over $16 billion) market, growing at about 25-30 percent on an annual basis since the last five years.