Lulu Group to invest $2 billion in India

NRI billionaire MA Yusuff Ali will invest $2 billion in India in the hospitality, retail and food processing sectors.

Ali, the promoter of Lulu Group, said on Wednesday that his investments in the country include malls in Lucknow, Vishakapatanam, Thiruvanthapuram and Hyderabad. He was speaking at a function to announce the launch of India’s largest convention centre on April 28.

“We are expanding our operations across the world with a focus on the United Kingdom and Africa. Lulu Hypermarket will be opening 20 hypermarkets in the GCC countries by 2020. We are also investing in a food processing centre in Andhra Pradesh,” Yusuff Ali said, adding that the group would invest more in the United Kingdom following the Brexit issue.

Lulu has a food processing unit in Birmingham’s Advanced Manufacturing Hub (AMH) to package and export 10,000 different products to hypermarkets across the Middle East, Africa, Asia and the Far East.

Lulu Bolgatty International Convention Centre and the Grand Hyatt resort constructed at a cost of `1,800 crore is expected to bring more business to Kochi in the form of conventions, conferences and destination weddings.

“It is one of the largest convention centres in India, spread over 10 lakh sq ft, including three helipads. We can compete with Singapore and Durban in the meetings, incentive travel, conventions and exhibitions (MICE) business and it will go a long way in making Kochi the MICE hub of India,” he added.

With an annual turnover in excess of $6.9 billion, Lulu Group has interests in retail, hospitality and food processing. Lulu Hypermarkets operates 133 stores across the Middle East, India, Malaysia and Indonesia.

Last year, Ali had purchased the iconic London building that once housed the headquarters of Scotland Yard. He is one of the richest persons in the UAE with stakes in East India Company and Kerala-based Federal Bank. His group company, Twenty Fourteen Holdings, which is based in Abu Dhabi, recently bought the 241-room Waldorf Astoria Edinburgh, The Caledonian.