The Department of Industrial Policy & Promotion (DIPP) has asked the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to probe into Walmart's controversial Rs 456-crore investment in Bharti arm.

The DIPP wants to determine whether the alleged investment by the US retail giant in Bharti Group violated the company's Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA). A senior official said that the RBI had been asked to probe the issue because it was the focal point for foreign remittances.

It has been alleged that Walmart had secretly and illegally invested $100 million (around Rs 456 crore) in the country's multi-brand retail sector in 2010, when foreign investors were not allowed to invest in multi-brand sector of the country.

The MCA is also probing if the investment by Walmart that was first made in Bharti Group's Cedar Services was passed on to Bharti Retail in violation of FEMA.

Walmart tried to defend its operations claiming, "We are in complete compliance with India's FDI laws. All procedures and processes have been duly followed and details filed with relevant Indian government authorities, including the RBI."

Bharti Retail operates as many as 200 supermarkets across India.

India allowed FDI of up to 51 per cent in multi-retail sector in September this year. Previously, foreign companies were only permitted to own wholesale operations in the country.