• Investment World
• eWorld
• Brand Line
• Mentor
• Life
• Brand Quest
• The New Manager
• BL Club
• Smartbuy
• Books
• Gallery

Stocks

• Quotes
• SE Diary
• Scoreboard
• Open-End Mutual Fund

Cross Currency

• Rates
  
  

Shipping

• Ports
  
  

Archives

• Yesterday
• Datewise
• Resources
• In Focus
• In Depth
• Events 2007

Group Sites

• The Hindu
• The Hindu ePaper
• Business Line
• Business Line ePaper
• Sportstar
• Frontline
• The Hindu eBooks
• The Hindu Images

First outlet: Mr Raj Jain (left), Managing Director & CEO, Bharti Wal-Mart Pvt Ltd, and Mr Rajan Bharti Mittal, Vice-Chairman and Managing Director, Bharti Enterprises, addressing a press conference in Amritsar on Saturday.

Bindu D. Menon

Amritsar, May 30 Bharti Wal-Mart Pvt Ltd, the joint venture between Bharti Enterprises and Wal-Mart Stores Inc, today opened its first wholesale, B2B and cash and carry retail venture albeit without its famous brand name.

Christened Best Price Modern Wholesale, the 50,000 sq feet store, opening almost two years since they both first announced their plans, will retail a range of 6,000 food and non-food items to licensed institutional buyers such as hotels, hospitals and restaurants.

The joint venture also intends to open 10 to 15 more wholesale outlets in the next three years and employ over 5,000 people.

Mr Rajan Bharti Mittal, Vice-Chairman and Managing Director, Bharti Enterprises, said the company had pumped in close to $6-7 million in setting up the store.

“We will go and set up more stores in Tier 1 and 2 cities,” he said at the unveiling of the first store.

The company has already established a membership base of over 35,000 members and will source its requirements from over 800 suppliers for the cash and carry venture. Over 90 per cent of its good and services will be sourced locally.

As the venture has established a substantial backend in Punjab and a training institute, the first store has been opened in Amritsar. The next two are also planned in Punjab followed by Haryana, the NCR, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh and eventually a pan-India presence, said company officials.

Wal-Mart has been trying to expand the scope of its activities in India for past three years.

It has been constantly developing its backend operations by bringing into its fold a network of suppliers to stock its stores with fresh produce and staples. “Wal-Mart currently sources products worth over $1 billion from India,” Mr Mittal said.

For Wal-Mart, India is a key market as nearly a quarter of its worldwide sales come from international markets. In India, the company has recently hired nearly 100 people. It has also trained 600 people at its training centre — Bharti Wal-Mart Training Center — in Punjab.

More Stories on : Retailing | Alliances & Joint Ventures | Foreign Direct Investment

Article E-Mail :: Comment :: Syndication :: Printer Friendly Page

Copyright © 2009, The Hindu Business Line. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu Business Line