Wal-Mart plans 50 new wholesale outlets, online stores in India

NEW DELHI: US retail giant WalMart plans to open 50 more wholesale outlets in India and launch online operations to sell to small traders after calling off its joint venture with the Bharti Group last year and shelving plans to open its own retail stores.

The world’s largest retailer will open the stores over four to five years, it said in a statement on Tuesday. Wal-Mart already runs 20 such stores that sell directly to retailers in the country.

Wal-Mart’s growth in India has been slowed by an internal bribery probe, uncertainty over regulations on foreign investment in the country, and in October, by the severing of its partnership with Bharti.

“We are taking a number of important steps to strengthen compliance so that we do the right thing everyday,” Scott Price, Wal-Mart’s Asia chief executive, said in Tuesday’s statement. “We are evaluating and reinforcing procedures and programmes relating to compliance areas, including licencing and permits, food safety, and responsible sourcing.”

According to a company executive in India, the new outlets would open soon in western and southern India. The online business would be started on a wholesale basis and goods will be sold to traders on a “very small” scale.

India does not allow foreign retailers to sell goods online directly to consumers.

Sources at Wal-Mart have said they are waiting for elections to finish before applying to operate retail stores in India. On Monday, BJP, the political party expected to lead India’s next government, said it would bar foreign chains from the $500 billion retail sector.