The Hindu Business Line : At Wal-Mart, the Indian interest is high

Bentonville (Arkansas) June 1 High scaffolding in the cavernous lobby of the Hotel Clarion to keep out prying eyes, the town's woman deputy sheriff, armed and ready to keep out anti-Wal-Mart activists staying as guests in the hotel — and waiting journalists — marked a day of lengthy presentations by a battery of senior Wal-Mart officials to the media on the eve of what is a big day: the annual shareholders meet of the world's largest corporation held on the first Friday every June.

This green and pleasant town of Bentonville, headquarters of the $345-billion retailer, has a population of about 40,000 people; but sees at least 15,000 shareholders and associates, as Wal-Mart employees are known, descend on this and the neighbouring town of Fayetteville, to attend a meeting to be addressed by Mr Lee Scott, President and CEO, Wal-Mart Stores Inc.

"It's almost like a showbiz event," remarked a Wal-Mart official of the meet, held every year at the Bud Walton indoor auditorium at the University of Arkansas campus in Fayetteville, the same hall which reverberated on Tuesday night to the music of Eagles, the group of yesteryear, who performed live to over 12,000 clapping and cheering Wal-Mart associates.

The India interest is high as Wal-Mart looks to set up operations in the country. In presentations to media from all the top business press in the US as well as Spanish journalists from the Central Americas and India, Ms Wan Ling Martello, Senior Vice-President for International Finance, Wal-Mart, answering a question from a British journalist representing a retailing magazine, on why Wal-Mart's India entry is getting delayed, emphasised that the tie-up with the Bharti Group was making good progress. "Like I said we could not have picked a better partner than Bharti ... but it is complicated; FDI has not opened up as yet and we are truly not looking to enter the retail market. Bharti is clearly anxious to get into retail but our agreement is strictly on the cash-and-carry side of the business..."

Asked specifically whether Wal-Mart plans to take on other partners in India, Ms Martello categorically said no. Clearly aware of the criticism that Wal-Mart has been facing on issues such as healthcare for its 1.3 million employees in the US and on the environment, senior officials made a detailed presentation on its healthcare plans and its moves towards environment sustainability, especially its push toward retailing more of energy-saving compact fluorescent light bulbs.

Stressing the point that 75 per cent of Wal-Mart's revenues came from stores that don't come under the Wal-Mart label, Ms Martello said that the retailer was looking to expand in the Latin American markets and in China and in new markets such as India, where, she said the emphasis is on development of a supply chain. In South America, Japan and China, Wal-Mart has grown rapidly through acquisition of local retail chains and further growth will come by leveraging those learnings, she said.

The Wal-Mart chain today comprises 6,956 retail units worldwide, with 4,058 in the US alone, and serves 176 million customers weekly in 13 countries and employs 1.9 million people.