World’s biggest retail giant is setting its footprint in India

After years of controversy and opposition from local retailers, Wal-Mart this month is poised to open its first store in India, launching an expansion that will include 10 more big-box outlets in the potentially vast Indian market over the next two years.

Its wholesale operations in India are under a joint venture with New Delhi-based Bharti Enterprises. The U.S. company's retail presence is restricted to providing back-end support for Bharti's chain of 25 Easy Day grocery stores that opened last year.


The world's largest retailer isn't new to India. For the past decade, the country has been an important Wal-Mart supplier of textiles, apparel, home products and jewelry. But in anticipation of its India launch, Wal-Mart for the last three years has been developing a network of suppliers to stock its stores with fresh produce and staples like lentils, wheat and rice — all with an appreciation for variations in local cultures and tastes. "India is not a homogenous market, so ours is not a cookie-cutter approach from the U.S.," says Raj Jain, president of Wal-Mart India.

Indeed, Indian mass-merchandisers over the last several years expanded frenetically, trying to get a jump on foreign chains should Indian politicians eventually decide to open up the market to direct competition from overseas. Reliance Industries built 940 stores across the country in 18 months. Aditya Birla group has opened 548 stores since 2007. Today, with India's economy slowing and with losses piling up, the domestic retailers have shut some outlets and laid off employees, partly because of difficulties in keeping large chains supplied with goods.