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Walmart keen on food processing in India, says govt
NEW DELHI: Global retail major Walmart has shown interest in entering India’s food processing sector after the government relaxed foreign investment norms, food
NEW DELHI: Global retail major Walmart has shown interest in entering India’s food processing sector after the government relaxed foreign investment norms, food processing secretary AK Srivastava said on Wednesday.
“Walmart is showing lot of interest. Now we are hoping that they will come on their own and they will add to the growth story of this country,” Srivastava said while briefing reporters about the investments in the sector in the last two years.
“A Brazilian company claiming to be world’s leading exporter in poultry sector met us yesterday. They want to tie up with Biyani’s Future Group to use their retail outlets,” he added.
However, when contacted, a Future Group spokesperson said there was no such development.
To give a boost and attract foreign investments in the sector, the government recently permitted 100% FDI in retailing of processed food produced and manufactured in India.
The US-based Walmart is present in the cash-and-carry retail format in the country.
The food processing sector received FDI worth $1.04 billion (₹7,000 crore) during April 2014 to March 2015. Food processing industry contributed around 9% to the manufacturing GDP.
