Bharti WalMart

The joint venture between India’s Bharti Enterprises and US retail giant Wal-Mart has been given a new name: BestPrice Modern Wholesale.

The cash & carry wholesale business will open its first store in Punjab next year, according to the Times of India, and is targeted at supplying traders, restaurants and client-end retailers.

Both partners apparently decided not to use the Wal-Mart brand name to avoid controversy.

“Following careful market research, the BestPrice Modern Wholesale store name reflects what business owners can expect at our self-service stores,” said the joint venture’s managing director and CEO Raj Jain.

The company plans to open 10-15 wholesale stores over the next seven years.