The Bharti Walmart joint venture has said it expects problems in India’s supply chain to be the biggest impediment towards its expansions plans in the country. The JV has earlier said it will aim to open as many as 15 wholesale stores over the next three years.

Raj Jain, MD and CEO of the JV, told Reuters in an interview, “ [The] supplier base including the farmers, the local suppliers, even the big companies are not ready to supply to large format of organised retail in an efficient way”. He said this is expected to “significantly” affect the company’s expansion rate in India, adding that “for the first five years it's going to be very, very difficult to rapidly expand”.

He went on, “I see this as at least a decade before a supply chain of any international quality and standard will be set up in India”.

NamNews - Thursday 29th July 2010

 

See column on the right for related news items
or search our NamNews Archive containing over 9 years of industry news (Subscriber-only)