Ambani greets Bharti-Wal-Mart alliance

New Delhi: Unfazed by the tie-up between the world's biggest retailer Wal-Mart with Bharti Enterprises, Reliance Industries chief Mukesh Ambani welcomed the

development and said the Indian market had enough space for more companies.

The Indian retail market has space for at least 6-8 large players, Ambani said at the India Economic Summit, when asked whether the partnership between Bharti and Wal-Mart could pose a challenge to the Rs 25,000-crore ambitious plans of Reliance group in the retail segment.

Asked whether FDI should be allowed in multi-brand retail format, he said it should be permitted as the sector offered immense potential. FDI was welcome as the retail potential was real, he said, adding any single large company or Multi-national Corporation could not capture it.

Ending months of speculation, the Bharti group, the country's biggest telecom company, today announced tying up with Wal-Mart for its retail venture.

Ambani said the retail segment had the potential to aid not only in India's economic growth but also provide employment opportunities. One of the biggest opportunities

from retail was that it would create purchasing power, even at the bottom of the pyramid, he said.

As many as 10-15 million jobs would also be generated over the next 3-5 years due to the explosion in retail sector, Ambani added.

Ambani said growth in retail, especially in the food category, had the potential to increase income of farmers manifold. Asked whether entry of big players could hit hard the smaller neighbourhood stores, he said it was not the case.

"I think that the last mile (kirana stores) are the most efficient. The owners of these stores know the customers. Therefore, opportunity is to partner them and build supply

chains," he said.

He said the 8-million-strong neighbourhood stores should help in faster growth of the retail sector. Asked whether there could be shortage of trained manpower to feed the rapid growth in retail sector, he said there would be no such shortage.

"There is enough human talent available and with 3-6 months training, we can give world-class services to our customers," Ambani said.