Lulu Group to invest ₹2,000 cr in Gujarat, build shopping mall in Ahmedabad

Retail giant Lulu Group has announced a ₹2,000 crore investment to develop a shopping mall near Ahmedabad in Gujarat. The The UAE-based company will make this investment as part of its plans to expand its business in India.

The Lulu Group has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Gujarat government, it said in a statement on Saturday. The company already has three operational malls in India and will open two more malls in the country by March next year.

“The Lulu Group will invest ₹2,000 crore in the state of Gujarat to set up a modern shopping mall,” the company said.

The investment was announced during a meeting between Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel and Lulu group Chairman and Managing Director Yusuff Ali MA in Dubai.

Patel is on an official visit to promote the upcoming Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit (VGGS) and attract foreign direct investment (FDI) into the state.

Under its agreement with the Gujarat government, the group will set up a shopping mall between Ahmedabad and Gandhinagar which will create more than 5,000 jobs. The construction is expected to start by first quarter of 2022 and will be 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 the mall, 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 CM Patel.

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.

Ali told PTI that the company had committed an investment of around ₹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, sprawled across 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.