Bharti in talks with Walmart for rolling out front-end stores

Bharti Enterprises is in talks with its US partner, Walmart, for rolling out front-end stores after the relaxation of foreign direct investment (FDI) norms in the retail sector. It wants the government to remove the differentiation in sourcing rules between single and multi-brand segments.

The company also feels big multi-brand retailers will not sound the knell for small kirana stores, as both formats can co-exist. “Discussions are on the way. Nothing conclusive has come around to speak as of now on that,” Bharti Enterprises Vice Chairman and MD Rajan Bharti Mittal told PTI when asked if they had firmed plans with Walmart for retail stores. But he ruled out any problems on this score.

The two companies have an equal partnership in their wholesale business and the Indian partner is hopeful of replicating it in the retail business, following the government's decision to allow up to 51 per cent FDI in multi—brand retail.

“When 100 per cent FDI was allowed in the back-end and the wholesale, we went for a 50:50 relationship. So, it is not imperative that what has been allowed by the government will follow but those discussions are happening. They are in the process,” he said.

Asked how soon can the two partners start rolling out joint retail stores in India, Mittal said: "India is a big country so in any case it takes time to roll out, you can't do it in a day. Not only us but also other people in this game and scale, once you start moving into that direction it can take 12-15 months to start getting some action on the ground." When asked about the different sourcing norms for FDI in single and multi-brand retail, Mittal said there should be equal treatment.