Is D-Mart India's Walmart in the making? What explains its success

Radhakishan Damani's retail chain gives its customers less and makes more than its rivals

As surprising as it may sound, India’s most profitable supermarket isn’t backed by Ambani, Birla, Biyani or Goenka.

India’s Walmart in the making, as a number of analysts have called it, is Avenue Supermarkets Ltd, the parent company behind a chain of supermarkets and hypermarkets called D-Mart.

On Tuesday (March 21), D-Mart, owned by notoriously media-shy investor Radhakishan Damani, cleaned up spectacularly on Dalal Street, with its shares more than doubling in value after its initial public offering (IPO). 

The math behind its business model is attractive to be sure, especially when compared to corporate rivals that attract a lot more publicity. For