Walmart reaffirms commitment to India, urges government to further open up economy

By

Isabelle Crossley

Published
Dec 11, 2020

U.S. retail giant Walmart reaffirmed its commitment to the Indian market and its e-commerce business Flipkart and called for further measures to open up the economy at a recent summit.

 
“India is an important part of the Walmart story and all the work we’ve done in India is important to us because we believe in your country’s people and potential for a long time now,” said Walmart Inc CEO, Doug McMillon, at a recent summit in New Delhi, speaking via video-link to Walmart’s headquarters in Arkansas, US, ET Retail reported.

“And this year has only made us more convinced about the tremendous opportunity ahead for both of us and the positive impact we can have together.”

Flipkart and PhonePe both require funding, said McMillon, sharing that Walmart is “excited” to be the business’ majority investor and that there is also space for other investors. McMillon said that Flipkart, its fashion arm Myntra, and PhonePe all grew during the pandemic, which served to further strengthen Walmart’s commitment to the country.  
 
“The more the Indian economy opens, the more opportunities that we will have to reap these benefits,” said McMillon.

“We believe India is entering a new era. The country is growing and by many estimates, will be the third-largest economy in the world by 2030 and a leader in many industries.”
 
The business has, however, received heavy criticism from a number of Indian traders’ bodies, most notably the Confederation of All India Traders, for allegedly violating foreign direct investment regulations. The Competition Commission of India is currently attempting to remove a stay on its planned investigation into both Flipkart and Amazon at the Karnataka High Court.