Wal-Mart urges India to open retail sector

NEW DELHI: The world's number one retailer Wal-Mart said Thursday it could open "hundreds of stores" in India if the government opened up the country's giant retail sector to foreign investors.

India has recently kicked off a public debate on allowing foreign supermarkets to open stores in India, a key reform pushed for by economists seeking greater liberalisation in the economy.

"We can only open seven, eight or 10 stores a year if it (the sector) is not opened," the managing director of Wal-Mart's Indian joint venture Bharti-Wal-Mart, Raj Jain, told reporters in New Delhi.

"But (allowing) foreign direct investment could mean we could open up hundreds of new stores," he told reporters.

Foreign groups such as Wal-Mart can currently only be wholesalers and must partner with domestic firms to sell in India.

It has entered the back-end retail supply chain in an alliance with Bharti Enterprises, parent of India's top mobile firm Bharti Airtel.

India's tight foreign investment rules are designed to protect small family-run stores in the 500-billion-dollar retail sector. Only single-brand foreign outlets such as Nokia or Reebok are allowed to operate freely.

Wal-Mart, Britain's Tesco and French supermarket Carrefour have been pushing for a government green light that would fully open up the sector to foreigners.

"This is a natural step for our country, every liberalisation step we have taken has been good for the country, good for the people," said Jain. "Why should this step be different?"

He insisted the fears of corners shops that they would be driven out business were "groundless."