Walmart aims to have 50 stores in India in 5 years

After announcing $16 billion investment in India's largest online retailer Flipkart, Walmart Inc will continue to grow its wholesale cash-and-carry business, taking the total number of stores to 50 in the next 4-5 years.

A day after announcing $16 billion investment in India's largest online retailer Flipkart, Walmart Inc said it will continue to grow its wholesale cash-and-carry business, taking the total number of stores to 50 in the next 4-5 years.

"We currently have 21 stores and plan to open 50 stores in 4 to 5 years. Plans are on track," said Walmart India President and CEO Krish Iyer, explaining the Flipkart deal.

Walmart Chief Executive Doug McMillon said Flipkart, in which the US retailer is acquiring 77 per cent stake, would continue to operate as a separate board-managed company with co-founder Binny Bansal as the Group CEO. Companies like Flipkart and Amazon operate as e-commerce marketplaces accept 100 per cent foreign direct investment (FDI).

"As we speak, we have a pipeline of 20 stores and we expect to open 5 stores in the current year and then pick up pace and eventually start opening 12-15 stores a year," Iyer said. For the cash-and-carry business, Walmart currently operates in 9 states and 19 cities and the future expansion is focused on more or less the same geographies.

"We are not spreading thin. We are continuing in same geographies but primarily focus is on Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana," he said. At its 21 Best Price wholesale stores, Walmart sells everything from fast-moving consumer goods to furniture to other retailers and institutions. It could potentially use these Best Price stores as pickup and delivery points to service online sales made on Flipkart.

Walmart India is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Walmart Stores Inc and offers close to 5,000 items through its cash-and-carry wholesale format.