Bharti to enter retail market with Wal-Mart
Monday, 27 November 2006, 18:30 IST
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New Delhi: Bharti Enterprises Ltd will be foraying into India's booming retail business in collaboration with US retail giant Wal-Mart. "The retail shops will be owned by Bharti under Wal-Mart franchise. And our aim is to offer lowest prices to Indians every day. We will hopefully roll out the first outlet in the next seven months," said Sunil Bharti Mittal, chairman and managing director of the Bharti group, on the sidelines of the 22nd India Economic Summit here. "This is an equal stake joint venture in areas where the government has allowed foreign investment in retail like cash and carry and logistics," he added. Mittal, however, refused to comment on the investment and other financial details. Bharti Enterprises Ltd. already has a joint venture, FieldFresh, with the El Rothschild group for supplying fresh agri products to overseas retailers. Many foreign retail conglomerates like Metro AG and Tesco are queuing up to enter India's money-spinning retail market. India is currently the ninth largest retail market in the world, according to Technopak Advisors, a realty consulting and research agency. It is estimated that organised retailing in India will cross the $21.5 billion mark by 2010 from the current $7.5 billion.
Source: IANS
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