First Lulu Hypermarket to open by this year end in Coimbatore

Abu Dhabi: Lulu Group, the Abu Dhabi head quartered US$ 7.4 billion retail conglomerate has confirmed ₹3,500 crore investment in the state of Tamil Nadu to set up shopping malls, hypermarkets and Food Processing & Logisctic Center.

An (MoU) to this effect was signed today by Pooja Kulkarni IAS, Managing Director and CEO of Tamil Nadu Industrial Guidance & Export Promotion Bureau and Ashraf Ali MA, Executive Director of Lulu Group in the presence of Chief Minister MK Stalin, Industry Minister Thangam Thenarasu, Yusuffali MA, Chairman of Lulu Group, other officials and dignitaries at the Abu Dhabi Chamber of Commerce HO in Abu Dhabi.

As per the MOU the first shopping mall will come up in Chennai by 2024 while the first hypermarket is expected to open by this year-end itself in Coimbatore, Laxmi Mills compound.

Apart from the malls & hypermarkets, the Lulu Group will also set up food processing and logistics centres for procuring & processing Agri-produce for exports to Middle Eastern countries. A high-level delegation from Lulu will soon visit the state to finalize locations and related formalities.

“State of Tamil Nadu lead by dynamic CM MK Stalin provides excellent infrastructure and support to the investors and we are very happy to explore bigger investment opportunities not only in Chennai but also in tier two cities such as Coimbatore, Salem, Madurai, Trichy”, said Yusuff Ali during the MOU signing ceremony which was attended by Dr, Ali Bin Harmal Al Dhaheri Vice Chairman of Abu Dhabi Chamber, Saifee Rupawala CEO, Lulu Group , Ananthram AV, Director - India of Lulu Group among others.

“Our aim is to provide more than 15,000 direct and indirect job opportunities to Tamil youth in the next 3 years” added Yusuffali.

In India, the group has three shopping malls in Kochi, Trivandrum and Bengaluru respectively. Its fourth mall is expected to be opened in Lucknow in the state of Uttar Pradesh by end of May this year.

Lulu currently operates more than 225 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.