India likely to be the largest market for Walmart this year, says Walmart CFO

India is likely to surpass China and emerge as the largest international market for Walmart this year, said Walmart CFO John David Rainey during the company’s annual institutional investors call.

The Bentonville-headquartered Walmart is a majority owner of ecommerce marketplace Flipkart and payment app PhonePe.

Addressing the investors call on Tuesday evening, David Rainey said, "I believe India is going to be the largest market in the world this year, surpassing China. It's a really promising opportunity in the future."

Rainey, who is also the executive vice president of Walmart Inc, termed Flipkart and PhonePe as market leaders and said both companies have huge opportunities to tap going forward.

In February, Walmart International's business took a hit in the fiscal fourth quarter with its operating income plunging 65.3% mainly owing to the separation of its Indian entities Flipkart and PhonePe.

The Bengaluru-based online marketplace and the fintech startup had announced a full ownership separation of PhonePe in December.

Flipkart and PhonePe continue to operate under US-based Walmart, which remains the largest shareholder in both.

Operating income for the three months ended January 31 fell to $300 million from about $800 million in the corresponding year-ago period, primarily because of the “costs incurred for the ownership separation of Flipkart and PhonePe,” the company said, announcing its quarterly earnings report.

Walmart International's net sales in the fourth quarter inched up 2.1% to $27.6 billion, affected by Flipkart's decision to advance its flagship Big Billion Days sale to the third quarter.