Flipkart deal will ramp up Walmart’s global sourcing from India and the company see a great opportunity to source apparel and accessories for Walmart from India, said Judith McKenna International CEO of the company.

Indian ecommerce market is under penetrated and has a lot of headroom for growth, said McKenna.

Last month, Walmart agreed to buy roughly 77% stake in e-commerce company Flipkart for $16 billion, in what is the country’s biggest foreign direct investment to date.

Walmart is cooperating fully with Indian regulatory agencies and the company is confident of getting nod for Flipkart deal, McKenna said.

“Flipkart transaction is fully compliant with India rules and applied to the Competition Commission of India (CCI) for clearance,” she said.

Walmart only need CCI nod for Flipkart transaction and the company can operationalise after getting it, added the CEO.

McKenna said Walmart will increase the funding to the Flipkart as it is necessary.

Flipkart deal will ramp up Walmart’s global sourcing from India, she said, adding that the company see a great opportunity to source apparel and accessories for Walmart from India.

On taking Amazon in India, McKenna said Walmart is used to competition around the world.

The deal was the US retail giant’s boldest attempt yet to take on Amazon online, as well as giving it access to a booming market it has so far failed to crack.

McKenna said the operating structure of Flipkart will remain same post deal and it will be board driven.

“Board composition will be announced after clearances from CCI,” she said.

Krish Iyer, CEO of Walmart India said they have support of one million Kirana members for Flipkart deal.

The company is seeing seeing double digit growth in India, said Iyer.

“Walmart will amplify efforts on Agriculture produce and will scale up farm sector pilots,” he said.

The company will also start to invest in cold storage as ramp up cash and carry stores, added Iyer.

First Published:Jun 1, 2018 7:28 AM IST