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In The Process Of Evaluating FDI Policy Guidelines In Food Retail: Walmart India

Walmart currently operates 21 Best Price stores in the country.

Inside a Bharti Walmart’s Best Price store in Punjab, India (Photographer: Sanjit Das/Bloomberg)
Inside a Bharti Walmart’s Best Price store in Punjab, India (Photographer: Sanjit Das/Bloomberg)

Walmart India is currently evaluating the policy guidelines of 100 percent foreign direct investment in food retail, Krish Iyer, chief executive officer of Walmart India said on Wednesday on the sidelines of India Retail Forum Mumbai.

Currently, Walmart does not have any food only store anywhere in the world, Iyer said in reply to a question on whether the retailer will look at a ‘food only’ model, and added that consumers are in the habit of shopping for everything under one roof.

On government’s move to open up food retail to investment, he said all the stakeholders including retailers, consumers, and farmers will benefit from it. The move will help retailers improve back-end infrastructure and reduce wastage, Iyer added.

Walmart India reiterated that it plans to open additional 50 Best Price stores in India and the construction of some stores has already begun. The US-based retailer is also in the process of signing more properties for the same, Krish Iyer said.

Walmart currently operates 21 Best Price stores in the country.