New Delhi: Bharti Enterprises on Friday said that retailer giant Wal-Mart is set to make its official entry into the $300 billion Indian retail market with its cash-and-carry and logistics joint venture with Bharti which is going to be finalised by March end.
The Wal-Mart board is going to meet on March 7. The board is likely to take up what the final agreement between Bharti and Wal-Mart is going to look like.
Post board meeting by middle of March, they will be ready to announce or finally ink the deal.
On Thursday Wal-Mart had come out and said in their statement that talks with Bharti were at a preliminary stage.
However, Bharti Enterprises Joint Managing Director Rajan Bharti Mittal declined to comment on any details after meeting Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia along with visiting Wal-Mart Vice Chairman Mike Duke.
According to sources, Duke, who arrived in India on Thursday, is likely to meet a series of top government officials to get a clear picture of policy guidelines in the retail sector.
Duke's visit is aimed at getting a first-hand knowledge of the market and no announcement regarding specific plans would be made during this visit, a Wal-Mart spokesperson had said on Thursday.
Wal-Mart said it was discussing with Bharti in the wholesale segment and exploring the possibility of investing in back-end linkages.
The retail chain giant said it was looking forward to partnering with Bharti to build cash and carry back-end linkages with farmers and suppliers through a robust and efficient supply chain and was conducting business studies concerning the feasibility of investing in establishing backward linkages with suppliers and farmers.
With Agency inputs
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