Walmart makes India plans clear by appointing realty head

The retail corporation also appointed Ashwin Mittal as CFO, who will be replacing Jill Anderson

In a further indication that Walmart is firming up expansion plans in India, the American retail chain on Saturday elevated Ashwin Mittal as chief financial officer (CFO). Javier Rojo has been appointed to lead the real estate expansion and business development function for its local arm.

Walmart had opened its last store in 2012, after which the group had to stop business expansion due to an internal probe under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act in the US.

Mittal will replace the current CFO of Walmart India, Jill Anderson, who will be moving back to the parent company. Javier will lead the real estate and business development and will be responsible for design & construction, real estate and store.

President and chief executive officer of Walmart India, Krish Iyer, said these appointments reflected the company’s commitment to India. “Ashwin comes with in-depth knowledge; wide experience and commitment that will help us strengthen our processes even more in the years to come. Javier’s depth of knowledge and global experience in real estate development will indeed make a positive difference and deliver results, as we remain steadfast on our growth and expansion plans in India.”

The development comes after a gap of about one year when the retail major announced its plans to have 50 wholesale stores in the country in the next five years. Currently, it has 20 wholesale cash-and-carry stores under the Best Price brand spread over nine states in the country.

In October 2013, the company broke its 50-50 joint venture with Bharti Group in the cash-and-carry business. Currently, Walmart’s cash-and-carry or wholesale business in India is fully owned by it. There are no foreign investment caps in cash-and-carry, unlike in multi-brand retail where 51 per cent foreign direct investment is permitted.

Walmart is in the process of coming up with another store in Agra by the middle of the year, it is learnt. This will be Walmart’s second store in Agra, converting what not-so-long-ago was operated by its French rival, Carrefour, the second-largest retailer in the world. Carrefour shut its Indian operation recently due to mounting losses and unviable business.

Ashwin joined the company in 2007 as head of financial planning and analysis and since then has assumed various key roles including head — business finance and strategy, chief business development officer.

Prior to this position, Javier was senior real estate director for the New England, US division of Walmart. He also has several years of experience of working at McDonalds and Walmart, both in America.