New Delhi: World’s largest retailer Walmart has set an ambitious target of tripling its sourcing from India to $10 billion (Rs 74,000 crores) per year in the next seven years by taking advantage of the country’s steady rise as a global manufacturing hub.
The increased sourcing by the US retail giant is expected to develop thousands of new suppliers in food, pharmaceuticals, consumables, health and wellness sectors in addition to providing new opportunities for export of general merchandise, textile and homeware and other key sectors.
India’s MSME sector, which has been reeling under the adverse impact of the Covid-19 global pandemic, is expected to be one of the biggest beneficiaries as most of the sourcing will be done from small and medium enterprises.
“We see huge potential for Indian suppliers to grow their businesses by leveraging the unique scale and global distribution opportunity Walmart provides,” said Doug McMillon, President and CEO of Walmart Inc, adding that local entrepreneurs and manufacturers are vital to the success of the global retail sector.
“By significantly accelerating our annual India exports in the coming years, we are supporting the Make in India initiative and helping more local businesses reach international customers,” McMillon said in a statement sent to ETV Bharat.
It is one of the ways for us to bring more high-quality, made in India goods to millions of Walmart customers worldwide, he said.
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The company, which serves over 265 million customers worldwide every week through its 11,400 stores and e-commerce platforms in 26 countries, has been procuring from India for over two decades.
Walmart’s annual sourcing from India has been pegged at around $3 billion per year and the company aims to increase it to $10 billion a year by 2027.
The company will also leverage its acquisition of Flipkart to develop the supply chain in the country.
In its bid to take on the world’s largest online retailer Amazon in the country, the company acquired majority stake in India’s e-commerce pioneer Flipkart in 2018 in a $16 billion deal.
The company said it would leverage its existing schemes such as the Flipkart Samarth and Walmart Vriddhi supplier development programmes for capacity building of Indian suppliers.
Kalyan Krishnamurthy, chief executive officer of Flipkart Group, says the company works with thousands of Indian brands and MSMEs to provide them a pan-India market and also helps them in managing the marketing, logistics, and compliance requirements for the global market.
The US retail giant, which has an annual turnover of over $520 billion, will also invest in the development of supply chain eco-system by helping the existing exporters and also expand the pool of export ready businesses in the country.
Several Indian companies, such as Welspun, LT Foods and Aniket Metals, Global Green Company and several others have expanded their global footprint by supplying to global retail giants like Walmart.
“Since we became a Walmart supplier in 1998, Welspun has grown to become the world’s largest home textiles manufacturer, exporting 94% of our output and employing 20,000 people, 25% of whom are women,” said Dipali Goenka, CEO of Welspun India.
“Welspun is a homegrown brand that exemplifies the Make in India story internationally,” she said in the statement sent to ETV Bharat.
Walmart to develop 50,000 Indian SMEs
In order to build the capacity of Indian MSMEs for the world market, the company last year launched Walmart Vriddhi with the aim to develop 50,000 small and medium companies in next five years so that they can take advantage of the Make in India scheme to become global suppliers.
India is already one of the top sourcing destinations for the US retail giant which procures apparel, jewellery, hardlines among other things to supply to its customers in 14 markets, including the US, Canada, Mexico, Central America, and the United Kingdom.
“As the sourcing hub ramps up over the next few years, the local team will be empowered to make an even greater impact in a wider range of sectors,” said the company.
