(Image source from: Livemint)

A topmost company official from the United States based retailer Walmart has proclaimed that it will open 30 wholesale cash-and-carry stores within India in the following 3 years.

The company, which opened its initial fulfillment center in Mumbai last year, recently launched its second fulfillment center in Lucknow. It likewise plans to launch 2 stores this year, 8 stores next year, and 10 stores in the year after that. The company plans to add a total of 50 stores on the Indian map in the next 5-7 years, said Walmart India President and Chief Executive Officer Krish Iyer.

Presently, Walmart operates 21 cash-and-carry stores under the name 'Best Price' in 9 states across the country, including Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Punjab, Rajasthan, Telangana, Jammu and Kashmir and Uttar Pradesh.

Walmart India, which has likewise signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the government of UP to open as many as 15 stores in the state in the next few years, has already finalized 3 sites and is presently looking at 6 more locations within the state. Some of the probable locations for its Best Price stores in UP are Kanpur Muradabad, Varanasi, Gorakhpur, Sharanpur, Lucknow, and Ghaziabad.

Talking about Walmart's second fulfillment center in Lucknow, Iyer said: "The center will contribute to the state and local economies by creating over 1,500 direct and indirect local jobs, developing SME suppliers, and empowering local communities. Besides, with this initiative, we are taking another definitive step towards building an impactful distribution ecosystem by working with our partners."

Walmart has recently acquired homegrown e-commerce business Flipkart for $16 billion, already making Indian online sellers jittery due to the of fear being wiped off, as the American retail brand has a reputation of killing small businesses with its cut-throat pricing.

By Sowmya Sangam