Walmart ramps imports from India, diversifying supply chain away from China

In an effort to reduce its reliance on Chinese suppliers, the US-based retail giant Walmart is expanding imports from India, aiming to cut costs. Walmart's imports from India have surged from 2 per cent in 2018 to 25 per cent between January and August of the current year.

Concurrently, imports from China have decreased from 80 per cent in 2018 to 60 per cent during the same period, reflecting the company's strategy to diversify its supply chain amidst increasing political tensions between the US and China and rising import costs from China.

Since 2018, Walmart has been steadily growing its operations in India, and in 2020, the company committed to importing goods worth $10 billion annually from India until 2027. Currently, Walmart imports approximately $3 billion worth of goods from India each year, covering a range of products including toys, electronics, bicycles, pharmaceuticals, packaged food, dry grains, and pasta.

This shift is seen as a positive development for the Indian manufacturing industry, benefitting from the confidence shown by global retailers and leveraging its well-equipped factory infrastructure, as highlighted by Rajesh Kharabanda, CEO of Freewill.