UPDATE 1-Bharti Wal-Mart picks name for cash-and-carry stores

NEW YORK Feb 2 (Reuters) - Wal-Mart Stores Inc (WMT.N) and partner Bharti Enterprises said on Monday that the cash-and-carry stores they are opening in India will be named "BestPrice Modern Wholesale."

Bharti Wal-Mart Private Limited, the name of the joint venture, said BestPrice Modern Wholesale is scheduled to open in Punjab this year, and membership registration has already begun.

Wal-Mart and Bharti Enterprises, an Indian business group with interests in telecoms, insurance and retail, announced in 2007 an equal joint venture for a cash-and-carry, or wholesale, business and back-end supply chain management.

The Bharti Wal-Mart joint venture has already opened a distribution center. More distribution centers are planned, and the joint venture said it expects to open 10 to 15 wholesale cash-and-carry facilities and employ approximately 5,000 people over the next seven years.

BestPrice Modern Wholesale will offer a range of 6,000 to 10,000 products, which will be available at wholesale prices. (Reporting by Nicole Maestri, editing by Dave Zimmerman)