Walmart set to halt expansion in India, fires a third of its executives here: Report

New Delhi : In a new development, Walmart Inc. is getting ready to make its physical presence disappear in India, and for the same reason it has fired a third of its top executives, said a local media report.

According to a report by Economic Times, the world's largest retailer has made up its mind to halt the expansion of new-stores in India and will cut the number of staff in coming days. The executives already sacked include vice presidents across sourcing, agri-business and fast-moving consumer goods, and the real estate team responsible for finding new store locations has been disbanded, said the report.

The Bentonville, Arkansas-based company sees no future in its physical operations in the country and will continue its operations in India with a merger on Flipkart, the e-commerce platform it bought for $16 billion in 2018, the report said.

The reports of making an exit from the Indian market come after a struggle of decade. Rules designed to shield the 12 million local mom-and-pop stores - known as kiranas - from foreign competition has hamstrung Walmart and others, like Amazon Inc. Political pressure is now growing for stricter regulation of foreign e-commerce platforms as well.

The earlier announced plans of Wamart to expand its wholesale business, including the doubling of outlets in next four years, have been pulled, according to the report of Economic Times.