Walmart Reaffirms $10 Billion India Procurement Target

The world's largest retailer started with sourcing operations in India over two decades ago

- Suneera Tandon

Walmart Inc., which owns domestic e-commerce company Flipkart, said on Tuesday it aims to increase local procurements from India to $10 billion every year for its international business, in a reiteration of its 2020 pledge to triple its annual exports of goods from the country to the same amount by 2027.

The world's largest retailer, which started with sourcing operations in India over two decades ago, now participates in the country's growing $70 billion e-commerce market via its controlling stake in Flipkart. It acquired a 77% stake in Flipkart in 2018 for $16 billion, before raising it to 80.5% by investing another $3.5 billion in the company.

"We appreciate the long-standing relationship that we've had with the country," Walmart Inc.'s president and chief executive, Doug McMillon, said at a company event in New Delhi.

McMillon is in India on a two-day visit.

"Look at what's happened in our sourcing business. It's grown a lot, and now we have this goal of getting to $10 billion a year, which is a really big number and together with the supplier community, we're working to achieve that," he said.