After Carrefour, Wal-Mart to speed up roll-out plans
13 May 2010
Wal-Mart Stores Inc, the world's biggest retailer, will accelerate its rollout of wholesale stores in India, a crucial market with growing incomes but restrictive ruels on foreign investment in retail.
Raj Jain, chief of Indian operations for Arkansas-based Wal-Mart, said the firm now expects to open 10-12 wholesale centres in India over two or three years, from an earlier target of five years, as real estate prices have bAecome more attractive and it gains confidence in operating in the country.
Food price inflation and the need for food security should spur the government to open the sector to foreign direct investment (FDI), he added.
"We will quicken the pace of expansion," Jain said in a late Tuesday interview with The Economic Times at his offices in Gurgaon, a suburb of New Delhi that houses a host of multi-nationals as well as an increasing number of upmarket residences.
"We have more confidence in running the stores, we feel more confident about real estate compared to two years ago," he said.
On Tuesday, France's Carrefour, the world's second-biggest retail chain after Wal-Mart, had also announced its inaugural plans for India. (See: France's Carrefour set to open wholesale shop in Delhi).