Bharti Enterprises has had a joint venture with Walmart in the wholesale trade for years in India.
Riding on a bull run, equity investors became richer by Rs 128.77 lakh crore in the 2023-24 fiscal, driven by robust fundamentals of the Indian economy, increased investment inflows and promising corporate earnings. After a muted performance in 2022-23, equity markets made a remarkable recovery in FY24, giving handsome returns to investors. The 30-share BSE Sensex climbed 14,659.83 points or 24.85 per cent in 2023-24.
India's retail giants, including Kishore Biyani's Future Group, Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Retail and Sunil Mittal-promoted Bharti group, have started negotiations with the railways for leasing land for retail development.
Wal-Mart's entry into India through an agreement with the Bharti group is a first-of-its-kind for the US retailing giant. The Arkansas-based retailer has always preferred to enter a new market on its own.
It entered India in 2006, with the aim of tapping the promising consumer market.
Bharti Wal-Mart Pvt Ltd, the joint venture between Bharti Enterprises and retail giant Wal-Mart, opened its first cash-and-carry (wholesale) store in India at Amritsar in Punjab on Sunday.
The New Year could well end up being the year of organised retailers.
Portal to be launched in three months, says Future Group's Kishore Biyani
Protesters, including retail traders, wholesalers, hawkers and mathadi workers, mainly hailing from areas around Mumbai, started gathering for the protest, organised under the banner of Federation of Associations of Maharashtra, amid a heavy security cover.
Tesco and Tatas have reached "a crucial stage in the negotiations, which have advanced considerably over the recent past
With his Mumbai sojourn,Wal-Mart Vice-Chairman Michael Duke gave enough signals that Wal-Mart is testing waters before it actually enters the organised retail in India.
After Reliance Industries, Tata, Bharti and the AV Birla group, the Hero group is all set to enter the Indian retail sector.
The number of dematerialised (demat) accounts required to hold shares and other securities in electronic format rose by 3.1 million in April, bringing the total tally to a fresh record of 154.5 million. Since December last year, the new additions have consistently remained above the 3 trillion mark, a sign that the stock markets continue to attract new investors despite a spike in volatility.
The big boys of India's traditional retail have finally come together to fight the onslaught of their online counterparts.
Walmart acquired Bharti's 50 per cent stake in the wholesale joint venture.
The government is considering to tweak FDI policy in retail sector so as to allow global chains like Walmart, Carrefour and Tesco to open multi-brand stores in non-hilly cities with population less than one million.
From the Sensex basket, Tata Motors, State Bank of India, Tata Steel, Power Grid, NTPC, Bajaj Finserv, Bajaj Finance and Asian Paints were the major laggards.
Retailers have learnt the costly lesson that stores must be opened where they can get a regular loyal customer base, and not necessarily in prominent locations which create hype and footfalls but no commensurate purchases.
From the Sensex basket, Tata Consultancy Services, Nestle, Bajaj Finserv, Wipro, Maruti Suzuki India, Reliance Industries, Larsen & Toubro and NTPC were the major laggards. Tata Steel, Bajaj Finance, JSW Steel and Bharti Airtel were among the gainers.
Agreement between Bharti Airtel and Loop Mobile, which offers mobile services in Mumbai, expired on October 31
The deal between Bharti group and Tata Teleservices is yet another example of how swiftly things can change in business.
Capital expenditure by Indian companies is likely to see an uptick in the upcoming quarters as capacity utilisation has surpassed the critical threshold of 75 per cent, and numerous companies have deleveraged their balance sheets, according to analysts. The first quarter of the current financial year has shown improved profitability, driven by a decrease in input prices. This, according to analysts at Care Ratings, should stimulate a revival in the private capex cycle.
The much-awaited Wal-Mart-Bharti tie up will take some more time to be finalised as the world's largest retailer said it was not making any business announcement during the India visit of its vice chairman Mike Duke
A leading Brazilian poultry company has also expressed keen interest in joining hands with Kishore Biyani's Future Group to sell their products in the country
Tesco, which has sought the government's permission to buy 50 per cent stake in Tatas-owned Trent Hypermarket Ltd, will have to invest atleast $55 million in creation of fresh back-end infrastructure.
After a five-day long visit, Apple CEO Tim Cook left India with a note that he can't wait to return to the country. The visit of Cook coincided with 25 years of the iPhone maker's presence in India. Cook arrived in India on Monday. The visit started with the launch of the first official Apple store in Mumbai on April 18 followed by a second in the national capital on April 20.
The investments include the supply chain, but exclude real estate component.
From the Sensex pack, ITC, Titan, Asian Paints, Reliance, Tata Steel, Bajaj Finserv, Axis Bank, Hindustan Unilever, Infosys, Bajaj Finance, Nestle and ICICI Bank were the major gainers. Kotak Mahindra Bank, Mahindra & Mahindra, HCL Technologies, State Bank of India, Bharti Airtel and Tata Motors were among the laggards.
Kotak Mahindra Bank to have a 19.9% stake in the proposed banking venture.
The one-year extension would give Walmart and its Indian joint venture partner in the cash and carry business, Bharti Group, more time to sort things out and decide on a retail foray together, people in the know said.
Believes companies would come to India eventually.
Profit taking in Bajaj Finance, Nestle, Kotak Bank, SBI, Bharti Airtel L&T and Asian Paints also weighed on the benchmark index. Maruti bucked the trend by gaining 1.73 per cent after strong retails sales in September. Power Grid, M&M. JSW Steel and Tata Steel also advanced.
Four new retailers from US, two from Germany may have shown interest in setting up shop in India.
RBI's exercise will take into account standards of governance, the viability of the payment bank (PB) business model, and changes, if any, if needed.
Billionaire Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Jio is India's strongest telecom brand in India, ahead of Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea Ltd, according to brand intelligence and data insights company TRA. TRA, formerly Trust Research Advisory, in its 'India's Most Desired Brands 2022' ranked companies according to their brand strength. Reliance Jio topped the telecom category, followed by Bharti Airtel, Vodafone Idea Ltd and BSNL.
From the Sensex pack, Bharti Airtel, HDFC Bank, Titan, UltraTech Cement, ITC, Sun Pharma, Bajaj Finserv, Bajaj Finance, Hindustan Unilever and Kotak Mahindra Bank were among the major gainers. Tata Steel, Axis Bank, NTPC, ICICI Bank and IndusInd Bank were the major laggards.
Online play is a priority now -- so far unthinkable in a business that's all about a meaningful interface with kirana stores.
Reliance Industries Ltd was the biggest wealth creator during the five-year period from 2018 to 2023 while Adani Enterprises Ltd was the top all-round wealth creator, according to a study by Motilal Oswal Financial Services. The study, based on stock market performance of companies, said for the fifth time in succession, Reliance emerged as the largest wealth creator, adding Rs 9,63,800 crore wealth over 2018-23. It was followed by Tata Consultancy Services (Rs 6,77,400 crore wealth addition), ICICI Bank (Rs 4,15,500 crore), Infosys (Rs 3,61,800 crore) and Bharti Airtel (Rs 2,80,800 crore).
At a time when the overall narrative is around India being an attractive investment destination, the two American multinationals are more specific in projecting India as their centrepiece.
The Indian government has simplified FDI policy inorder to attract global retail chains.