The UAE-based retail giant Lulu Group on Saturday announced 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, it said in a statement.
The Lulu Group already has three operational malls in India and will open two more mall 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 company said.
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The investment was announced during a meeting between Bhupendra 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," the statement said.
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. "I welcome Ali's promise to invest in Gujarat. The government will make every effort to ensure that land and any other assistance is provided to the group so that they can begin work," said the chief minister.
On the investment plan, Yusuff Ali MA said: "Gujarat holds a very special place in my heart, this is where I first learnt the basics of business as my father had family business in Ahmedabad. So I feel very excited to invest in Gujarat and hope we can expand further in this Vibrant 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.
In an interview with PTI, Ali had said that 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 on Saturday 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.
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