Dubai, Mar 28 (PTI) UAE-based Lulu Group will invest Rs 3,500 crore in Tamil Nadu to set up shopping malls, hypermarkets and food processing and logistic centre, the USD 7.4 billion retail giant announced on Monday.
According to an MoU signed between the Managing Director and CEO of Tamil Nadu Industrial Guidance and Export Promotion Bureau Pooja Kulkarni and Lulu group’s Executive Director Ashraf Ali MA in Abu Dhabi, the first shopping mall will come up in Chennai by 2024 while the first hypermarket is expected to open by this year-end itself at Laxmi Mills compound in Coimbatore.
The MoU, signed in the presence of state Chief Minister MK Stalin, who is currently visiting the UAE, said the group would set up food processing and logistics centres for procuring and processing agri-produce for exports to Middle Eastern countries.
Other dignitaries present on the occasion at the Abu Dhabi Chamber of Commerce were Industry Minister Thangam Thenarasu, Chairman of Lulu Group Yusuffali MA, as well as other officials.
Stressing on Tamil Nadu’s “excellent infrastructure and support to the investors,” Yusuffali said the group was exploring bigger investment opportunities not only in Chennai but also in tier two cities such as Coimbatore, Salem, Madurai, and Trichy.
He said that a high-level delegation from Lulu will soon visit the state to finalise locations and related formalities.
“Our aim is to provide more than 15,000 direct and indirect job opportunities to Tamil youth in the next three years,” said the chairman of the group that boasts three shopping malls in Kochi, Trivandrum, and Bengaluru respectively.
The fourth mall by the group is expected to be opened in Lucknow, capital of Uttar Pradesh, by the end of May this year.
The Abu Dhabi headquartered group currently operates more than 225 hypermarkets and shopping malls in the Middle East, Egypt, Indonesia, Malaysia and India, and employs over 57,000 people globally.
The UAE-based retail conglomerate’s hypermarkets and department stores have a 32 per cent share of the retail market in Gulf Cooperation Council countries. PTI CORR PY AKJ PY
