Walmart’s India Woes have a Mexican Link

Collateral Damage? A slew of sackings, capped with the exit of Raj Jain, allegations of bribery and violation of forex laws… The world's largest retailer is in the eye of a storm in India

Lately, the dark joke among the Indian staff of Walmart is that people lose jobs whenever Donny Rumsby, its vicepresident of asset protection for Asia, comes calling. As they did on a sultry June morning, when Rumsby came calling, this time along with Scott Price, head of Walmart's Asia operations. 

Price called Raj Jain, the man who had helmed Walmart's India operations since its inception in 2006, to Hotel Vivanta by Taj in Gurgaon, a stone's throw away from the company's office, and told him that his services were no longer required, according to three Walmart officials familiar with the development who spoke on the condition of anonymity. 
While Jain stayed back in the hotel, Price and Rumsby drove straight to the company's office in Gurgaon's Sector 53 and immediately called a townhall. Price stunned the staff assembled in an open space on the fourth floor by announcing that Jain was "no longer" with the company and introduced an interim replacement, Ramnik Narsey. There had been a question mark over Jain's continuity given the circumstances circling Walmart India. An internal investigation was on to see if company officials had paid bribes to secure clearances and business advantage, thus violating a stern American anti-corruption law. The entire legal team that procured licences for the company had been sacked. A stop sign had been placed on new stores. 
Even so, such an exit — sudden, dramatic and unceremonious — was unexpected. As chief executive of the company that had come to symbolise everything 
good and bad about Big Retail, Jain had tackled odds and hostility to build a $500-million business and opened the way for bigger things. 
He had just returned from a Walmart shareholder meeting in Bentonville, US, and was busy preparing a presentation for his bosses on the India operation's future plans. That presentation was made irrelevant. 
Asked about the reasons for Jain's sudden departure, a Walmart spokeswoman replied in an email statement: "I am unable to share more with you regarding this change, but we wish Raj well on his future endeavours." 
But senior officials joining the dots — at Walmart India, at its Indian partner Bharti and at fellow multinationals governed by the same American anti-corruption law — paint a picture that has less to do with the affairs of the world's largest retailer in India and more to do with its affairs in Mexico.