Walmart India on Wednesday, announced its plan to invest $500 million (approx RS 3,000 crore) to open 47 more B2B stores by the end of 2022.
Talking to the media, Krish Iyer, President, and CEO of Walmart India said: “Out of 23 B2B Cash and Carry stores, 19 of them have achieved a milestone of more than million members. We are planning to set up 70 stores by 2022, that is a plan and we will also have an e-commerce space in all the stores.”
Adding to this Krish said, “A typical store needs an investment of $9 million to $10 million so you can figure out what to set up 70 stores we need somewhere to $500 million.”
Talking about the Vizag store, he said: “It had come upon 56,000 sq feet and will provide jobs to 2,000 people directly and indirectly.”
Krish further said that the company will invest in developing a supply chain and ensuring the development of small and medium manufacturers in the state.
In order to avoid the intermediaries, a local cluster will be formed to directly outsource the production of coconut, melons, red chilies, vegetables, and other agricultural produce to the farmers. While farmers get double the price of yield, but the price for the customers will be the best, he said.
Walmart set a $ 4 million for improving market access for small-scale farmers in the state. The CEO said that “the vision is to develop a series of fruits and vegetable farmers and provide them access to training and more productive crop varieties.”
He added, “In the best price store, there will be more than 5000 items on display, including fresh, frozen and cold foods, fruits and vegetables, dry groceries, personal and home care items, hotels and restaurants supply, apparel, office supplies, Electronic goods, and other general business items.”
Krish Iyer said that “We have signed a MoU with Girijan Cooperative Corporation (GCC) for the source of Araku coffee and other products and said that four of the seven proposed stores will start working from next year. Whereas land is still to be identified for other stores, which will take three to four years. He said that the company’s focus is now on the second and tier III cities.
He said, “We have received good support from the state government and therefore we are expanding our activities in the state.”