Walmart to open 20 stores in India starting next year

Walmart India has signed 20 new sites for new stores and will start opening them from the next year, a top company official said today.

The company, which runs 21 Best Price wholesale stores in nine states, has already started work in some of the new projects.

"As we speak, we have signed nearly 20 sites as well and we are well on our way to be on meeting the commitment and targets which we have," Walmart India President and CEO Krish Iyer told PTI on the sidelines of the CII retail summit.

Asked about the timeframe for opening the new stores, he said: "We have some ground breaking and we would start seeing new stores from the next year."

He did not let out more.

Walmart has plans to add 50 new stores by 2022 to take the total store count to 70.

A company official said: "Out of these 50 stores, 5-7 new stores will become operational next year."

Walmart India is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Walmart Stores Inc and offering close to 5,000 items through its cash and carry wholesale format.