Tagging Uttar Pradesh as a priority growth state, Walmart India said it expects to create at least 30,000 local jobs by setting up 15 stores in the state. Walmart India, which already runs four Cash and Carry stores in UP, recently launched a fulfilment centre (FC) in Lucknow, which created 1,500 new skilled jobs. In the UP Investment Summit held earlier this year, Walmart India had signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the state government to open 15 wholesale Cash and Carry stores.

“Each store is likely to create 2,000 direct and indirect jobs, thereby generating at least 30,000 local jobs in the state,” Chief Corporate Affairs Officer Rajneesh Kumar who represented Walmart India in the Investment Summit, told PTI from Mumbai. Walmart India will attend the ground breaking ceremony here on Sunday where Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath will take stock of the progress in implementation of the MoUs signed during the UP Investment Summit.

The mega ground breaking event is billed to see launch of various projects worth Rs 60,000 crore by large companies like Walmart, Reliance, Adani, Mahindra, PayTm, TCS and GAIL. When PM Modi will lay one brick here in Lucknow, ground-breaking for the projects would be done digitally in the districts concerned, said UP Minister for Industries Satish Mahana.

Kumar, who will be present at the ground breaking ceremony on Sunday, said, “UP is a priority growth state for us. Walmart is making deep investment in agriculture supply chain, enhancing small farmers capabilities and sourcing from them for its stores in UP and other states.” Through our Cash and Carry stores and FC in Lucknow, we are not only creating new jobs, but supporting and enabling small kiranas, farmers and local SME suppliers to succeed, he said.

“We are delighted to bring best practices in retail to our kiranas, best practices in farming and food safety to our farmers and SME suppliers,” he added. We are confident of making a difference to the lives of lakhs of farmers, kiranas and local suppliers as we grow our business in line with government vision of bringing inclusive prosperity, Kumar said. In addition to existing stores and FCs at Lucknow, Agra and Meerut, the company is bringing its wholesale Cash and Carry stores to Varanasi, Kanpur, Allahabad, Moradabad, Saharanpur, Gorakhpur and other cities.

Kumar said these stores can also become a great platform for saree weavers in Varanasi and many such artisans who struggle for market access. “The company can help create an ecosystem for these artisans just like it has been able to do with small farmers and other small suppliers in UP and other states,” he pointed out. Walmart recently acquired 77 per cent stake in Flipkart. In future, it is highly likely that it will leverage Flipkart to give wider visibility of such artisan/weaver clusters.

This will not only improve lives if these neglected groups, but also provide visibility to their products to millions of consumers directly, Kumar said. Walmart runs Sunhara Prayas in UP to support farmers in enhancing their productivity and income by connecting them to the market.