The world's number one retailer Wal-Mart opened its first sales venture in India on Saturday as part of an ambitious plan to establish a foothold in the country's vast consumer market. The US discount chain has teamed up with Bharti Enterprises, parent of India's biggest mobile firm Bharti Airtel, in a wholesale joint venture to be called Best Price Modern Wholesale.
"We have put in a lot of planning and preparation over the past 12 months and are delighted all the hard work will now bear fruit as we open the doors of our first cash-and-carry store in India," said Wal-Mart India head Raj Jain.
The opening of Wal-Mart's first "big box" outlet in Amritsar city in the wheat-bowl northern state of Punjab, is a high-stakes one for the US retailer, which has been expanding internationally to grow its revenues. "India is first of all a country with close to 1.2 billion people and a strongly growing economy which is driven by personal consumption," said Jain.
"There's a need to start out on a learning curve with the Indian consumer and this is the first significant step in that direction," he said. The Best Price Modern Wholesale will offer 6,000 food and non-food items at "competitive wholesale prices," a Wal-Mart statement said.
Best Price will not be open to retail shoppers but will serve small stores, fruit and vegetable sellers, restaurants, hotels and other business outlets. Under India's tight foreign investment rules, no overseas chains are permitted in the retail sector - except for single-brand outlets such as Nokia or Reebok - to protect local retail players.
Foreign groups such as Wal-Mart can only be wholesalers and must partner with domestic companies to enter the retail market, valued at 400 billion dollars and forecast to grow rapidly in the coming years.