Wal-Mart to accelerate India plans

NEW DELHI: Softening of real estate prices have proved to be a blessing for Wal-Mart India and the company is now planning to accelerate the opening up of up to 15 stores in the country within three years, instead of seven as planned earlier.

"In 2007, we talked about opening up of 10-15 stores in the next seven years. I think we can open 10-15 (stores) over the next three years," Wal-Mart India President Raj Jain told a TV channel.

Jain said that besides the realty prices the company's confidence in doing business in India has improved significantly.

"...whatever we plan, we can probably accelerate that based on the learning we had over the last eighteen months," he added.

Wal-Mart is operating in India through its 50:50 joint venture with Bharti Enterprises and had planned to open 10-15 cash-and-carry stores in India by 2015.

Bharti Wal-Mart postponed the opening of its first cash-and-carry store in Amritsar on Tuesday due to law and order problem in Punjab following the violence sparked by killing of a Dera leader in Austria.

The company had announced last year that its wholesale stores would be opened under the brand name of 'BestPrice Modern Wholesale' and each store would have a size of 50,000-1 lakh square feet.