MA Yusuff Ali, CMD of the Lulu Group International, is happy about the UAE-based retailer's plans to invest in India, ANI reported on September 8. Lulu Group is set to build what is being billed as "India's largest shopping mall" in Ahmedabad, Gujarat.
Expressing joy at investing in India, Ali told the news agency that he is "very happy to give employment to his fellow citizens (Indians)". He further added that the company is receiving "full support" from the Centre and ministries.
"India's biggest shopping mall is in Ahmedabad. We already got the land. I am getting full support from the central government, the Ministry of Commerce and all the ministries of the central government," he said.
"This is one of the biggest projects that we inaugurated today. It is about 3,50,000 sq ft. (and) 3,000 young boys and girls are working here. I am very happy to give employment to my fellow citizens," Ali added.
The mall will be built at an estimated cost of ₹4,000 crore, as per the report; and in an earlier interaction, Ali said construction is expected to begin this year (2024).
Speaking to ANI in September 2023, Ali hinted at two large shopping mall projects in India — in Chennai and Ahmedabad, the report said.
"We are going to construct one of the largest shopping malls in Ahmedabad and Chennai, and we are opening our shopping mall in Hyderabad at the end of this month. Also, we are going to different states for shopping malls and food processing," he said, speaking to ANI last year.
Lulu, at present, has malls in six Indian cities — Bengaluru, Coimbatore, Hyderabad, Kochi, Lucknow, and Thiruvananthapuram. The one in Hyderabad was inaugurated last year.
Headquartered in Abu Dhabi, UAE, Lulu Group International is known as a "trendsetter" in the Middle East and North African retail industry, as per the ANI report.
The retailer operates more than 250 hypermarkets and supermarkets and is popular across the GCC, Egypt, India, Indonesia, and Malaysia.
Lulu Group employs more than 65,000-plus strong workforce from 42 different nations and has an annual turnover of USD 8 billion globally.
(With inputs from ANI)
