Over the next seven years, Bharti Wal-Mart Pvt. Ltd. plans to open 10 to 15 "cash-and-carry" stores in India. One of those stores would occupy about 50,000 to 100,000 square feet. According to a Dow Jones & Co. report citing high rental costs in India, four to five of those seven years will be unprofitable for the JV.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is also having some trouble in Japan with its struggling supermarket business. They're trying to rectify the problem, recently offering about ¥100 billion ($878 million) to buy out minority shareholders of Seiyu Ltd.

In other news, Bharti Airtel Ltd. is scouting billion-dollar acquisition targets overseas. Earlier this month, the firm crossed the 50 million customer mark, adding the last 25 million in 14 months. The figure covers mobile, broadband and telephone customers. — Baz Hiralal

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