India represents one of the most dynamic opportunities in global commerce and could emerge as a model for global retail as Walmart deepens its sourcing and digital commerce presence in the country, Walmart President and CEO John Furner said on Thursday, noting that the retailer has already sourced goods worth more than $40 billion from India for its global operations.

Furner later in the evening met Prime Minister Narendra Modi, after reviewing Walmart’s India operations, visiting its technology hub in Bengaluru and addressing separate town halls at Walmart-backed companies Flipkart and PhonePe during his maiden visit to the country since taking charge earlier this year.

“India represents one of the most dynamic opportunities in global commerce,” Furner said, adding that Walmart remains focused on expanding sourcing, exports and entrepreneur-led growth from the country. He also indicated that India’s mix of digital innovation, entrepreneurship and supply chain scale could shape Walmart’s future globally.

The Bentonville-headquartered retailer, which had earlier committed to sourcing goods worth $10 billion annually from India by 2027, said it is strengthening entrepreneur and supplier capabilities, improving compliance and quality standards and helping Indian manufacturers scale exports.

“We have already sourced more than $40 billion in goods from India and are focused on strengthening entrepreneur and supplier capabilities, raising compliance and quality standards, and helping scale manufacturing so more Indian businesses are ready to export,” Furner said.

During the visit, Furner met leadership teams of Flipkart and PhonePe one-on-one and also visited Walmart Global Tech India, the company’s global innovation and engineering hub in Bengaluru. According to sources, he stressed growth and speed during the Bengaluru town halls and expressed optimism around India’s fast-growing quick commerce segment, whose learnings could potentially be adapted for the US market as well.

The visit comes at a time when Walmart’s India investments are entering a new phase, with both Flipkart and PhonePe preparing for stock market listings. PhonePe recently filed draft papers for an initial public offering, while Flipkart has made fresh leadership appointments across compliance and strategy functions as part of its IPO preparations.

Walmart acquired a 77% stake in Flipkart in a $16-billion deal in 2018, marking one of the largest investments in India’s digital commerce sector.

The company also hosted the second edition of its Growth Summit in the national capital on Thursday, bringing together export-ready businesses, MSMEs, digital-first brands and supply chain partners. Walmart said its Vriddhi programme has so far supported more than 115,000 entrepreneurs in modernising operations and improving export readiness, with plans to support 170,000 MSMEs by 2028.