Reliance snares Wal-Mart honcho

S Ramesh joins the Mukesh Ambani juggernaut.

MUMBAI: After luring top talent available in the domestic organised retail segment, Reliance Retail has gone a step further - it has dipped into Wal-Mart's Indian talent pool.

The Mukesh Ambani firm is believed to have hired S Ramesh, who was heading Wal-Mart's sourcing business from India since the last four years.

Confirming Ramesh's move out of Wal-Mart, Colonel Asghar, a spokesperson for Wal-Mart, told DNA Money from Bangalore: "It will take little time before we could find a replacement for him."

Wal-Mart's sourcing business from India has grown over $2 billion in the last 8 years of operation in the country.

Prior to Wal-Mart, Ramesh had worked for the Hong Kong-based Pacific Resource Export Ltd, that worked as an exclusive buying agent for Wal-Mart. Known for his sourcing acumen, Ramesh is said to have joined Reliance Retail as the head of it sourcing division.

Ramesh could not be contacted and Reliance officials refused to comment on the development.

Ramesh's exit can prove to be a small setback to Wal-Mart's Indian plans because proliferation of organised retail has created huge shortage of seasoned professionals.

Over a month back Wal-Mart recruited the regional head marketing and product delivery of Whirlpool Asia, Raj Jain, as the retail giant's president for emerging markets, Asia-Pacific.