graft mean India not such a super market for Wal
By Nandita Bose
MUMBAI, July 8 (Reuters) Wal Mart India expansion is stalled.
Canada Goose sale When India announced last September that it would allow foreign supermarket chains to take majority ownership of their Indian operations, it marked a victory for Wal Mart Stores Inc, which had spearheaded efforts to open the market and said its first retail store would open within two years.
canada goose coats on sale Now, two sources canada goose coats within the Bentonville, Arkansas based company Indian unit say it is unlikely to apply for its first retail store licence before March 2015. The company has said it needs a further 12 to 18 months after winning government approval to open each store, which means its first retail outlet in the country would open in 2016 at the earliest.
Canada Goose online Meanwhile, Bharti Enterprises, its local partner in an existing wholesale business, is reconsidering its commitment canada goose store to their joint venture given canada goose factory sale the heavy investment requirement and distant prospects for returns, four sources with direct knowledge of the matter said.
Bharti denied that it is looking to exit the tie up and said it remains fully committed to the joint venture, and a Wal Mart spokeswoman declined to comment on what she called speculation.
The latest developments stem from an ongoing internal bribery probe relating to its Indian operations, still evolving rules governing foreign participation in India retail sector, and uk canada goose national elections due by May 2014 that could result in the controversial retail reform being reversed and any Canada Goose Parka newly opened supermarkets being shut the sources said.
The delay and faltering partnership mean Wal Mart may miss out on the advantage in a country considered the last great frontier for global retailers.
Canada Goose Outlet If Bharti pulled cheap Canada Goose out, Wal Mart would be forced to find a new partner from a tiny pool of large Indian retailers to meet the requirement that a local firm owns 49 percent of the business.
canada goose On June 26, Wal Mart announced that Raj Jain, who led its India push for the past six canada goose clearance years, had left the company.
buy canada goose jacket The world biggest retailer named Ramnik Narsey, who recently joined the company after heading the Indian operations of Australia Woolworths Ltd, as interim India chief, without explaining the cheap canada goose uk change. https://www.canadagoosesale.biz Jain did not answer repeated calls to his mobile phone and the company declined to make Narsey available for comment.
canada goose clearance sale Narsey headed the consumer electronics wholesale business of Woolworths in India for fifteen months, before it was sold to the Tata Group, offering little canada goose black friday sale insight into what his appointment might mean for Wal Mart India rollout.
canadian goose jacket will take lot more than a management change to fix things, said Devangshu Dutta, who heads Bangalore based retail consultancy Third Eyesight.
canada goose clearance is being investigated for breaking entry rules, bribery and these are problems that are much larger than any individual or the changes he canada goose uk black friday can quickly bring about, he said. Wal Mart has said it is in compliance Canada Goose sale with India foreign direct investment guidelines. retailer is currently investigating bribery allegations in its Indian canada goose operations.
With 1.2 billion Canada Goose Jackets people and 90 percent of its $500 billion in retail trade done at mom and pop shops, India is potentially lucrative for retailers such as Wal Mart, Carrefour SA and Tesco Plc. But no global supermarket chain has applied to enter because of regulatory uncertainty.
Wal buy canada goose jacket Mart buy canada goose jacket cheap local joint venture partner Bharti, one of the few large scale retailers in India, is getting cold feet because of the additional investment required to run retail operations.
canada goose store Bharti, controlled by billionaire Sunil Mittal, wants to consolidate its balance sheet and sharpen its focus on Bharti Airtel Ltd, India biggest telecoms operator, which has $12 billion in debt, sources said.
buy canada goose jacket cheap JV is under review. Bharti is taking a closer look at it because it wants canada goose uk outlet to move out, said a senior official at Bharti Wal Mart Canada Goose Online Pvt Ltd, declining to be identified.
With high costs and narrow margins, most big retailers in India lose money. The Bharti Walmart wholesale joint venture lost 2.77 billion rupees ($48 million) on canada goose jacket sales of 18.8 billion rupees in 2011, according to the most recent regulatory filing.
canada goose deals will continue to look at Canada Goose Coats On Sale divestiture, said another source with direct knowledge of canadian goose jacket the matter. plan is to make it a focused business rather than the hands and legs going in all directions.
canada goose coats There is no certainty that Bharti will exit the wholesale joint venture after the review, the sources said.
Canada Goose Parka GRAFT CRACKDOWN Wal Mart internal crackdown on bribe paying has also slowed expansion plans in a country where paying bribes is seen as a standard cost of doing business, according to Indian retailers and industry officials. Reuters reported in May that retailers in uk canada goose outlet India often pay so called money to smooth the process of obtaining dozens canada goose uk shop of permits. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act forbids American firms from paying bribes. Wal Mart launched a global review of corruption last year after Canada Goose online a New York Times report on bribery at the company Mexico operations. Its lawyers flagged India among the countries with the highest corruption risk.
In November, Bharti Walmart, the company India joint venture, suspended employees including the chief financial officer as part of an internal investigation into bribery allegations in India.
canada goose black friday sale Wal Mart, which has run wholesale stores in India since 2009, has not opened a new one since October despite its stated plans to open eight in 2013. It has 20 such stores in India.
Canada Goose Jackets In response to questions canada goose clearance sale from Reuters, Wal Mart said its India wholesale store rollout had encountered delays but canada goose coats on sale did not say how many it will open in 2013.
are in the process of implementing additional controls for our new store permit and licensing program to ensure the process is handled appropriately and in full compliance with all laws and regulations, the Wal Mart India spokeswoman said Canada Goose Outlet.
