Davos (Switzerland), NFAPost: LuLu Group International signed an agreement with the Karnataka Government on Monday to invest Rs 2,000 crore in the state.
The agreement was signed by Group’s Director A V Ananth Ram and state’s Industries Additional Chief Secretary E V Ramana Reddy on the margins of the World Economic Forum (WEF) annual meeting at Davos in Switzerland in the presence of Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai and state Industries Minister Murgesh Nirani.
“The Indian multinational will open 4 shopping malls and a hyper market in the southern state, especially in Bengaluru. The Group also plans to set up agri-export-oriented food-processing units in the state. Its projects are expected to create jobs for about 10,000 people,” said an official statement.
The Group proposes to invest from this fiscal (2022-23) after approvals from the departments, with incentives offered by the state government.
Founded in 2000 by M A Yusuff Ali from Nattika in Kerala’s Thrissur district, LuLu is headquartered at Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and operates a chain of hypermarkets and retail firms in India and West Asia.
The company’s chain of retail outlets is present across the UAE, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, Oman, Saudi Arabia and Yemen. Its first hypermarket in India was opened at Kochi in Kerala on March 10, 2013. It has also set up a LuLu Mall at Thiruvananthapuram in the coastal state in December 2021. It also plans to invest Rs 1,000 crore to set up an international convention centre, a 5-star hotel and a mall at Lucknow in Uttar Pradesh.
Leading the state delegation, Bommai unveiled the Karnataka Pavilion at the WEF venue in the ski-resort town on the second day of the 5-day summit.
The Chief Minister held talks with heads of Jubilant Group, Hitachi, Hero Motorcorp, Siemens, Dassault Systems and Nestle and showcased Karnataka as an ideal investment destination in the Indian sub-continent.
“Bommai urged drug-maker Jubilant’s founder and co-chairman Hari Shanka Bhatia to invest more in the pharma and FMCG (fast-moving consumer goods) sectors at Dharwad in the state’s northwest region,” said the statement.
The company has a drug plant at Nanjangud near Mysuru and a research institute in Bengaluru where about 9,000 people are employed.
“The Chief Minister pitched for investments in the FMCG Park, being set up at Dharwad, and explained the incentive package being offered to investors for setting up their operations in the state,” said the statement.
Jubilant’s subsidiary Food Works plans to open a centralised kitchen in the state while its Biosys arm is keen to set up a Research and Development (R& D) facility at Devanahalli in the city’s northern outskirts near the Bengaluru international airport.
Hitachi Energy has expressed interest in setting up an electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure unit in the state. The Japanese company is set to open its Energy Quality Instrument unit at Doddaballapur near north Bengaluru. It is also setting up an engineering centre in Bengaluru and plans to hire about 2,000 engineers.
German major Siemens plans to set up a project to offer magnetic imaging and diagnostics and a health-related R&D project in Bengaluru. It is opening a medical equipment making unit at Bommasandra in the tech city later this year to cater to the domestic market. The company has about 2000 engineers.
“The state government has assured the company special incentives to set up its production unit for modern medical equipment,” noted the statement.
Representatives of Siemens and the state government discussed about the ‘Beyond Bengaluru’ project to draw investments at Tumakuru, Hubballi-Dharwad and Mysuru cities across the state.
Principal Secretary to the Chief Ministr N Manjunath Prasad and state Industries Commissioner Gunjan Krishna were present on the occasion.
Dassault Systems has shown interest to invest in EVs, modern production systems, industrial training for students in Digital 4.0 technology and the Smart City project in the state.
Nestle has expressed interest to modernise and expand its Instant Coffee unit at Nanjangud in Mysuru district.
