Nine Indian companies win Wal-Mart supplier award

New Delhi, May 17 (UNI) Nine Indian companies have won the fifth 'Wal-Mart International Supplier of the Year Award' for 2006, for outstanding supplier accomplishments.

Among these Welspun received the trophy for sustainability. The other eight companies who won the awards were Leela Scottish Lace, The Richa Group, JJ Mills and Kaytee Corporation (all for apparel), Elegant (diamond jewellery), and Abhishek Industries, Abhitex and JVS (for towels and home textiles).

The awards were presented by Wal-Mart in Shenzhen, China.

"We are proud to have been recognized by Wal-Mart as a globally-reliable, quality supplier of products manufactured in a sustainable manner," Welspun India's Joint Managing Director Rajesh Mandawewala said.

This year around 100 suppliers globally were nominated, out of which 53 suppliers were ultimately recognized.

The award is based on the performance of companies on a number of parameters like quality of goods, on-time delivery, ethical standards compliance, business growth and price performance.

''In today's competitive global marketplace, Wal-Mart's sourcing strategy revolves around purchasing merchandise wherever we can find the best. We expect direct sourcing from the region will continue to grow as suppliers in the region are innovative and respond quickly to new trends and business opportunities,'' Wal Mart Global Sourcing India Pvt Ltd's General Manager Rajnish Kapur said.

UNI