Bharti Wal-Mart's first store to open next week

Bharti Wal-Mart, the joint venture between Bharti Enterprises and the US-based Wal-Mart Stores Inc, will open its first cash-and-carry store in India next week.

The joint venture's first store, to come up in Amritsar, will be inaugurated by Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, a source familiar with the development said.

The joint venture between Bharti Enterprises and Wal-Mart Stores Inc was inked in 2007 and the company had earlier announced plans to open 10-15 cash-and-carry stores in the country by 2015.

The company had last year announced that its cash-and-carry stores would be opened under the brand name of 'BestPrice Modern Wholesale' and each store would have a size of 50,000-1 lakh square feet.