Bharti ropes in ex Wal-Mart executive Raj Jain as retail CEO

Bharti Enterprises, which agreed to call off a joint venture with Wal-Mart Stores in the country last October, named a former executive with the US retailer to head its retail operations.

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Raj Jain, who had last year joined the Bharti group as an adviser, was on Friday named chief executive officer of Bharti Retail, effective immediately, the New Delhi-based group said in a statement.

Jain headed Wal-Mart’s Indian unit before leaving the company in June last year.

Bharti Retail also named Pankaj Madan as its chief financial officer (CFO). Madan previously worked as CFO of the Bharti-Wal-Mart wholesale joint venture.

Bharti Walmart had suspended Madan in November 2012 amid a Walmart internal probe to check if its India unit indulged in any corrupt practices.

Jain quit Bharti Walmart in June last as a direct fallout of the Walmart’s internal investigations.

Bharti Retail currently operates 212 retail stores in India.

Agencies