Wal-Mart Sets Sights on India

Retail behemoth teams up with local biz, hoping to get piece of $300B market
By Dustin Lushing,  Newser Staff
Posted Aug 7, 2007 3:18 PM CDT
Wal-Mart Sets Sights on India
Bharati Enterprises Managing Director Rajan Bharti Mittal, left, poses with Country President Wal Mart Raj Jain at a press conference in New Delhi, India, Monday, Aug. 6, 2007. Bharati Enterprises and Wal Mart signed an agreement Monday for a joint venture Bharti Wal-Mart Pvt. Ltd. for wholesale cash-and-carry...   (Associated Press)

Wal-Mart will set up shop in the lucrative Indian market for the first time, the Times of London reports. In collaboration with Indian mobile phone company Bharti, the American retail giant will sell wholesale goods to small shops, restaurants, and other businesses. The first "Bharti Wal-Mart" stores are expected to open by 2009 and are already drawing fire.

The lure is India's $300 billion retail market, which is projected to nearly triple in size by 2015. Wal-Mart's vice chairman says the venture is "in line with our global vision of saving people money so they can live better,” but opponents say the megastore will squash small-scale retailers, which employ 40 million Indians. (More Walmart stories.)

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