NEWSMAKER: Raj Jain

Wal-Mart's India face

This week Raj Jain, president of Wal-Mart's operations in India, was splashed all over the Indian media as the face of the world's largest retailer.

Jain joined the company only last May as the president of emerging markets and has since worked closely with Wal-Mart vice chairman Mike Duke to forge the 50:50 cash-and-carry joint venture with Bharti Enterprises in India.

At a time when climbing the ranks without a MBA degree is next to impossible, Jain, 48, has achieved immense success.

As Jain says, he has held three very different jobs so far. The first, after concluding his bachelor degree in mechanical engineering from Delhi School of Engineering, was with Unilever in 1980 as a management trainee.

The second was with Whirlpool in 1996, post the acquisition of Kelvinator. This time, Jain had to shift to Shanghai. And though this led to major adjustments for himself and his family, Jain was most excited by the opportunity of overseeing the "integration of an acquisition".

As for the third, he says, Wal-Mart was serious about entering India even before Jain joined the company in 2006.

According to him, though Wal-Mart had been trying for the past three to four years, it accelerated the entire process only last year. It was decided that Wal-Mart would make its foray with a joint venture partner and investment bankers were hired to find suitable partners.

It was during this period that Bharti Enterprises chairman Sunil Mittal got in touch. And the media got rolling. According to Jain, it was from the media that Wal-Mart learnt of Mittal also being in talks with Tesco (that was once considered a front-runner) and Carrefour.

It was supposedly also from the media that Wal-Mart learnt of the breakdown of talks between Bharti and Tesco. But that being history now, and the joint venture all signed, Jain is preparing to move back to New Delhi to lead a new start-up company.

There are clearly many challenges ahead for Jain "" setting up base for the world's largest retailer in India; to develop an extensive and efficient supply chain (which on its own is a mammoth task); create linkages with farmers and small manufacturers; convince global suppliers to come to India; import the required technology; and to find reasonably priced real estate (which seems next to impossible).

In between all this, Jain also has to find the time to mingle with the 'press'. In three days, beginning Monday, Jain has held one marathon press conference and given endless 'exclusive' interviews to television channels, wires and newspapers.

The fatigue and boredom from repeating the same story again and again is visible, but Jain knows that his job also entails pacifying and "educating" the public that Wal-Mart will in fact benefit kirana-stores and the entire economy.

After all, there have already been several large-scale demonstrations against Wal-Mart and protesters had even gone as far as burning effigies near the Commerce Ministry when the Duke was visiting India in February. Coupled with that, the Left is opposed to Wal-Mart as it feels the small retailers and kirana business will get killed.

But, it's a process, Jain initiated in April this year by proactively sending e-mails to the Indian media to present Wal-Mart's side of the story. The e-mail provided details of how Wal-Mart in the United States has proved good for local economies.

Of how new businesses sprung up near Wal-Mart stores and how stores that were already in business are doing even better business.

It also quoted a study by Global Insight which stated that Wal-Mart saves the average American household more than $2,300 per year. All this to destroy the "Bentoville Beast" image.

Moving beyond the US, Jain is now in charge of selling this "Wal-Mart is good for India" vision.

Through the cash-and-carry venture, Wal-Mart says it aims to establish an efficient wholesale supply chain linking farmers and small manufacturers "" who lack adequate brand power or distribution strength "" directly to retailers, thereby minimising wastage of fresh foods and vegetables as well as helping control inflation.

While Wal-Mart already sources goods worth $600 million from India "" mainly comprising textiles "" and Jain is confident that Wal-Mart's operations in India will lead to sourcing increasing manifold not just for the domestic market but also for the global retailer's overseas markets.

Whether all this will come true will only be determined post 2008, that is once the Bharti and Wal-Mart joint venture actually begins rolling out their wholesale outlets.