Lulu Group, the UAE-based retail giant has affirmed it will invest Rs 2,000 crore to develop a shopping mall near Ahmedabad in Gujarat as part of its plans to expand business in India. The company has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Gujarat government.
The Lulu Group by this time has three operational malls in India and will open two more malls in the country by March next year. The Lulu Group will invest Rs 2,000 crore in the state of Gujarat to set up a modern shopping mall.
The investment was announced during a meeting between Bhupender Patel, chief minister of Gujarat, and Lulu group chairman and managing director Yusuff Ali MA in Dubai. The Gujarat Chief Minister is on an official visit to promote the upcoming Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit (VGGS) and attract foreign direct investment (FDI) into the state.
According to the MOU, the group will set up a shopping mall between Ahmedabad and Gandhinagar which will create employment to more than 5,000 people. The construction is expected to start by first quarter of 2022 and completed in 30 months.
Government of Gujarat will facilitate Lulu Group with all necessary assistance and clearances and also depute a senior IAS official to follow up the procedures.
Apart from this, the Lulu Group will also set up food processing and logistics centres in Baroda and Surat for exports in the second phase of investment in the state.
Lulu currently operates more than 220 hypermarkets and shopping malls in the Middle East, Egypt, Indonesia, Malaysia and India. The group employs more than 57,000 people globally. Lulu hypermarkets and department stores have a 32 per cent share of the retail market in Gulf Cooperation Council countries.
In India, the Lulu group opened its third shopping mall at Bengaluru in October this year. The company had committed an investment of around Rs 4,500 crore for the development of five shopping malls in India in the first phase of expansion in the country.
Out of the five, the three malls have already become operational at Kochi, Thrissur and Bengaluru. The “Global Mall” at Rajajinagar in Bengaluru, comprising 8 lakh square feet, is not owned by the Lulu group but it will manage and operate the property. The Lulu group said that its latest mall at Kerala’s capital Thiruvananthapuram will be opened next week while Lucknow Lulu Mall is expected to be open for shopping by March 2022.