Global retail giant Walmart is set to open 15 outlets in Maharashtra and will invest Rs 900 crore for the purpose, the state government said on Wednesday, July 12. The state's industries department signed an agreement with Walmart in the presence of Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and the stores will be functional in the next two years.
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"Walmart will open 15 additional modern wholesale cash and carry stores in the coming years by investing Rs 900 crore," an official statement from the CM's office in Mumbai said. "The state government would grant single-window clearances for this investment," added Development Commissioner (Industries) Harshadeep Kamble.
Additionally, the chief minister's office also posted a series of tweets, which read: "MoU signed in presence of CM @Dev_Fadnavis between @Walmart & Industries Department, GoM for 15 modern wholesale cash & carry stores in Maharashtra. This wholesale cash & carry stores by @walmartindia will bring investment of ₹900 crore and generate 30,000 jobs in Maharashtra."
As of now, Walmart has two stores in the state in Aurangabad and Amravati and now has zeroed in on Nagpur, Nashik, Pune and Bhiwandi as possible locations for the new stores, reported Business Line. With the new stores, Walmart will also create about 30,000 direct and indirect jobs.
Walmart India currently operates 21 best price modern wholesale membership clubs across nine states with about 5,000 products on offer. It plans to open 49 more outlets by 2020.
Meanwhile, Walmart's job creation comes as a sign of relief to the country that has been witnessing a tough job market. It was earlier reported that landing new jobs this year may be tougher, thanks to numerous factors such as the Goods and Services Tax, demonetisation, and H-1B visa woes.
In fact, job growth this year is likely to be flat at 5-7 percent, according to the Times of India. Hospitality, retail and fintech industry show a minute rise in hiring but the trends for other sectors look disappointing.
"Going by early trends, increased hiring in other sectors, including retail, hospitality and fintech result in 5 per cent growth on an average, which is lower than 7-8 per cent that we saw in 2016," TOI quoted Thammaiah BN., MD, Kelly Services, as saying.
