Wal-Mart defers India cash-and-carry launch

NEW DELHI May 25 (Reuters) - Wal-Mart Stores Inc (WMT.N) has defered the launch of its first cash-and-carry store in India, after riots in the northern Punjab state following an attack on a Sikh temple in the Austrian capital Vienna on Sunday.

"We will come back with the rescheduled date shortly," Bharti Wal-Mart, the joint venture of the American retailer and India's Bharti Enterprises, said in a statement on Monday.

Punjab, where the first store was scheduled to open on Tuesday, is a predominantly Sikh state. (Reporting by C.J. Kuncheria; Editing by Ranjit Gangadharan)