Wal-Mart's vice chairman Michael Duke expects the first Cash & Carry store in India to open its doors to the public by the end of the year, despite local political opposition of the Bharti-Walmart JV. Duke also stated, "The Bharti-Wal-Mart JV has exceeded our expectations on speed and quality of talent."

Bharti-Wal-Mart is expected to open 10-15 Cash & Carry stores in seven years. Many speculate that the Bharti front-end retail stores will not carry the Wal-Mart name. Rajan Mittal, joint managing director of Bharti Enterprises said that Bharti-Wal-Mart have zeroed in on a brand name and will unveil their plans in April 2008. In the 52 countries where Wal-Mart actually operates, only 25% carry the Wal-Mart name.

Mittal added, "We expect a sea-change in attitude towards organised retail by next year." He expects to employ about 5,000 people in the store, with approximately 20% being housewives. He expects this will send a positive message to the Indian government.

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