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Wal-Mart knocks on Mukesh’s door for an alliance

Topping the list is Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL), which itself is giving the finishing touches to its own retail juggernaut likely to be rolled out next month.

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US retail giant also in talks with other industrial houses

NEW DELHI: Guess who’s among the companies that Wal-Mart is in talks with for its India foray? Topping the list is Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL), which itself is giving the finishing touches to its own retail juggernaut likely to be rolled out next month.

Also a surprise since RIL is planning to give India a Wal-Mart like presence in scale and size of operations and could well be a future competitor to the US giant.

An industry source pointed out that Wal-Mart is interested in partnering RIL in the area of logistics - which means sourcing items such as fresh fruits and vegetables, besides their transportation to the length and breadth of the country.  RIL is readying a 40-plane air cargo fleet for its own logistical needs and this could serve Wal-Mart’s purpose as well! When contacted, Reliance officials declined to comment on the matter.

Wal-Mart has appointed management consultant McKinsey & Co to help find a suitable partner or several of them for its India operations. Despite several attempts, Wal-Mart India representative Lance Retigg could not be reached.

And it’s not just RIL. Wal-Mart is also believed to have approached other large industrial houses, despite the stringent foreign direct investment (FDI) norms. The companies that Wal-Mart is in talks with include vehicle maker Mahindra & Mahindra and Sunil Mittal’s Bharti Group.

While M&M is not known to nurse any retail ambitions till now, Bharti has already selected British major Tesco for its retail initiative.

But even as Wal-Mart has been holding preliminary discussions with big business houses, it is believed to be snaring real estate major DLF as a franchisee.

Industry sources pointed out that in this arrangement, while the retail outlets will be owned by DLF, back-end distribution and logistics will be handled by Wal-Mart. A DLF spokeswoman declined to make comment.

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