Walmart's Flipkart to hire 70,000 in India ahead of big shopping event

BENGALURU (Reuters) - Walmart Inc's <WMT.N> Flipkart said on Tuesday it would create 70,000 new jobs and employ many more as delivery partners and in other roles as it prepares for a surge in online shopping during the busy Indian festive season.

Flipkart, Amazon.com Inc's <AMZN.O> Indian unit and Reliance Industries Ltd's <RELI.NS> fledgling e-commerce business are vying for a share of the booming online retail market, which received a big boost from the COVID-19 pandemic as more Indians used their smartphones to shop for groceries and other items.

Flipkart's "Big Billion Days", styled on the lines of Amazon's Prime Day, rakes in its biggest sales for the year. The four- or five-day long sale usually starts around October to tap India's festive season, which ends with Diwali.

The company said it would also sign up more than 50,000 kiranas, or small grocery stores, for last-mile delivery.

"While creating direct job opportunities across Flipkart's supply chain, that include delivery executives, pickers, packers and sorters, there will also be additional indirect jobs created at Flipkart's seller partner locations and (local corner stores)," the company said in an emailed statement.

Earlier this month, the e-commerce company launched an online wholesale service, Flipkart Wholesale, for mom-and-pop stores and other small businesses.

(Reporting by Anuron Kumar Mitra in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil D'Silva)