wal mart india

New Delhi, September 24:: Wal-Mart Store Inc will open its first cash-and-carry centre in India in 2009, the head of its India operations said on Wednesday.

Wal-Mart, which has a venture with India's Bharti Enterprises for cash-and-carry wholesale operations, had earlier said it aimed to open the first of its centres by year-end and open 10-15 centres over seven years.

"Certainly that was the initial plan," Raj Jain said at the sidelines of a business conference.

"We still stick with that. It could be faster, it could be slower."

Wal-Mart’s plans to enter India had raised concerns among a section of people who argued that the entry of multinationals will mean job and income losses among traditional vendors and wholesalers, who form the backbone of India’s current retail business. Some also saw Wal-Mart’s proposed venture with Bharti as its back-door entry into India.

After years of lobbying with the government to allow it to set shops in India, Wal-Mart in 2007 teamed up with Bharti Enterprises for a cash-and-carry venture, an area where India allows up to 100% overseas ownership.

Meanwhile, Bharti Wal-Mart will roll out its first BestPrice store near Chandigarh later this year. BestPrice will sell up to 10,000 products from food to furniture, and the retailer has already started the process of enlisting business members, according to the statement. The store in Punjab will cater to about 65,000 retailers, restaurants, hoteliers and other businesses.

Bharti Enterprises also operates about two-dozen convenience stores called EasyDay outside this joint venture.