Wal-Mart India to set up 15 stores in Andhra

Wal-Mart India President and CEO said the company's plan was to have wholesale stores in every district of the state

Wal-Mart India, the wholly-owned subsidiary of US retail giant Wal-Mart Stores Inc, is planning to open 15 cash-and-carry stores in Andhra Pradesh in the next five years. The company currently has three stores in the state – in Vijayawada, Guntur and Rajahmundry.

After calling on the chief minister, N Chandrababu Naidu, at the Secretariat here on Monday, Wal-Mart India president chief executive officer Krishna Iyer said the company’s plan was to have wholesale stores in every district of the state, besides investing in social and rural entrepreneurship through corporate social responsibility.

“We will make the investment environment conducive in the state, attracting more investors,” he said, while welcoming the single-desk policy and the 21-day clearance plan introduced by the state government.

The chief minister told Iyer that the company could choose 20 to 30 agriculture commodities, which the state tops in, and market them through Wal-Mart. “You can focus on value addition and marketing, while the government will work on the processes,” he said in a press release.

Asking Iyer to come up with a commodity-wise action plan from Wal-Mart, Naidu said the company could focus on rice, cashew, mango, palm oil, banana, peanuts, tomato, potato, coconut, maize, red gram, marine products, citrus products, eggs, dairy products and papaya.