IKEA would open its flagship store in Bengaluru next month, Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai announced on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum Meet in Davos on Wednesday. Jester Brodin, CEO of Ingka Group, of which IKEA is a part, met the CM today to further discuss the launch.
“I am pleased to announce that IKEA will be opening their flagship store in Nagasandra in June 2022,” Bommai said in a tweet. “We are also in talks with the organisation to encourage local manufacturing, thus boosting employment and economic growth.”
The Bengaluru's store would be IKEA’s third in the country after Mumbai and Hyderabad. It is spread over five lakh sqft, and would employ 800-1000 direct workers and another 1,500 indirectly. The store in Nagasandra is expected to attract more than 70 lakh visitors every year.
The Chief Minister's office said in a statement, the IKEA store (furniture) is set to be inaugurated at Nagasandra in June and Brodin invited Bommai to the event.
The India head office of IKEA is in Bengaluru and issues related to extensive use of bamboo and other locally available raw materials in making of furniture came up for discussion during the meeting, it said.
Industries Minister Murugesh Nirani, IT, BT Minister C N Ashwath Narayan, Additional Chief Secretary in the Department of Industries E V Ramana Reddy, Chief Minister's Principal Secretary N Manjunath and Commissioner in the Department of Industries Gunjan Krishna were present at today's meeting.
