Walmart will invest between $240 and $300 million (€215 million and €269 million) in India between now and 2020, taking its store count from 21 to 50 and developing its supply-chain networks in the country, Business-Standard.com reports.
Rajneesh Kumar, vice-president and head of corporate affairs for Walmart India, said, "We have a cash-and-carry model, and the growth has been good for us. We intend to raise the numbers from the present 21 to 50 by 2020. Each store takes about two to three years to set up and needs an investment of $8-$10 million. These will create around 2,000 direct and indirect jobs. "
It will also boost the number of staff it employs in its e-commerce hub in Bengaluru from 750 to about 1,200.
K. Jayakumar, vice-president and managing director of Walmart Global Technology Services, said, "Most of the growth at Walmart [technology] Labs here is driven by supply chain and analytics. The focus is to set up two centres of excellence. This will be from the ground up. Hence, the numbers will go up."
He added, "What I can say, however, is that the combined structure, in some sense, already exists here. The Bengaluru centre is the only centre in the world for Walmart where both these teams work together. We not only work in the same building, but have also collaborated on projects together. Interestingly, we hope to contribute on how things will shape in the future."
© 2016 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Peter Donnelly. To subscribe to ESM: The European Supermarket Magazine, click here.
