American retailer Wal-Mart Stores Inc. on Friday named Krish Iyer as the new president and chief executive officer of its Indian unit. Iyer's appointment will be effective starting January 20. According to a report by Reuters, Iyer will replace Ramnik Narsey. Narsey was appointed interim head of Wal-Mart India in June after the departure of its long-serving country head Raj Jain.
Iyer joined Wal-Mart's international unit in 2012 as its senior vice-president, the report said. Bloomberg in a separate report revealed that Iyer joined Wal-Mart after spending six years in Hong Kong retailer A.S. Watson.
Wal-Mart in October called of its Indian joint venture with conglomerate Bharti Enterprises Pvt., Reuters said. Bharti Enterprises is owned by Indian billionaire Sunil Mittal. Wal-Mart's plans to open retail outlets in India suffered a setback with the end of its six-year joint venture. The partnership collapsed after an internal probe of possible violations of US anti-corruption laws, Bloomberg said.
Wal-Mart has 20 wholesale stores in India and needs an Indian partner to open supermarkets in the country, the report added.
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