Bharti Walmart Private Limited, the joint venture between Bharti Enterprises and Walmart Stores Inc for wholesale, business-to-business, cash-and-carry and back-end supply chain management operations in India, today opened its first Best Price Modern Wholesale cash and-carry store in Chhattisgarh in Raipur. Mr. Raj Jain, Managing Director and CEO Bharti Walmart inaugurated the store.
The Best Price Modern Wholesale store situated at Bhanpuri, Bhilai Bilaspur Bye Pass Road, Ring Road No 2, Raipur, is spread over 53,000 square feet and stocks over 5,500 items, including a wide range of fresh, frozen & chilled foods, fruits & vegetables, dry groceries, personal & home care, hotel & restaurant supplies, apparels, office supplies & other general merchandise items, which are available at competitive wholesale prices, allowing retailers and business owners to lower their cost of operations. Best Price Modern Wholesale store is a one-stop business-to-business store that meets the day-to- day needs of restaurant owners, hoteliers, caterers, fruit and vegetable resellers, kiranas stores, retail store owners, offices and institutions. The assortment, service and layout of the Store is customized to specific needs of members who can walk into the store and source high quality products in the quantities they need and at the time they require.
Mr. Rajan Bharti Mittal, Chairman, Bharti Walmart said, “We are delighted to expand our footprint to Central India with the launch of our first store in Chhattisgarh. We believe our operations will add value to Chhattisgarh’s economy by providing a wide range of products to kirana stores and other businesses at competitive prices. Bharti Walmart will also source products locally and provide direct and indirect employment opportunities to people in particular the youth.”
Speaking on the launch, Mr. Raj Jain, Managing Director and CEO, Bharti Walmart Pvt. Ltd. said, “Raipur is an important regional centre of India and we are excited to start our operations here with the launch of Best Price Modern Wholesale store. We have invested $7 million in Chhattisgarh and created over 200 inclusive jobs, of which about 40 are from the tribal community, thereby providing a sustainable means of income. We have already received very good response to this store with over 25,000 registered members. We are certain that this store will help create several indirect jobs, boost local manufacturing and help in further strengthening the economy of Chhattisgarh.”
Bharti Walmart sources a large number of products locally to provide an impetus to the local industry and create employment in local economy. The products in the Raipur Best Price Modern Wholesale store, sourced from Chhattisgarh and Raipur includes: milk, paneer, curd, poultry, eggs, meat, soya oil, rice, rice bran oil, flour, stationary and bakery products.
About Bharti Walmart Private Limited
Bharti Walmart Private Limited is a business-to-business (B2B) joint venture between Bharti Enterprises and Walmart for wholesale cash-and- carry and back-end supply chain management operations in India to serve small retailers, manufacturers and farmers. The JV launched its first B2B Best Price Modern Wholesale cash-and-carry store in Amritsar in May 2009. A typical cash-and-carry store will stand between 50,000 and 100,000 square feet and sells a wide range of fresh, frozen and chilled foods, fruits and vegetables, dry groceries, personal and home care, hotel and restaurant supplies, clothing, office supplies and other general merchandise items. The JV is expected to open 12 new wholesale cash-and-carry facilities and employ approximately 4,000 people by December 2011. Currently, Best Price Modern Wholesale stores are present in Amritsar, Zirakpur, Jalandhar, Kota, Bhopal, Ludhiana and Raipur.