 "Lulu Group")
Abu Dhabi-based Lulu Group, a leading retail chain in the Middle East, plans to invest Rs 2,500 crore in Telangana in next one year, the state government said today.
The Group's Chairman, Yusuff Ali M A, said this when a delegation of Telangana government, represented by IT Minister K T Rama Rao and Industries Commissioner Jayesh Ranjan, called on him, a state government release said here.
The Group wishes to invest in three projects in Telangana - a fruit and vegetable processing unit, an integrated meat processing unit and a modern shopping mall in Hyderabad, it said.
A team from the Group will visit Hyderabad in first half of next month with detailed project reports and seek the government's assistance in identifying suitable land for the projects along with help in obtaining various approvals.
The Group has over 100 hypermarkets in the Middle East and has an annual turnover of over $5 billion, it said.
Rama Rao, Special Chief Secretary for Industries K Pradeep Chandra and Ranjan, along with a delegation from FICCI, visited Smart City, Dubai yesterday and interacted with its chief executive Abdullatif AlMulla and managing director Baju George.
During the interaction, the possibility of developing a Smart City in Hyderabad, as a part of 'Information Technology Investment Region (ITIR)', was discussed.
AlMulla expressed his happiness at this offer and has decided to visit Hyderabad within next one week for follow up discussions, the state government said.
Smart City in Dubai is an integrated development featuring offices for IT companies along with residential and commercial development, all with a number of features that enable the people who work and live there to have a high quality of life using various technology solutions.
Smart City, Dubai has been successfully replicated at Malta in Europe.
In India, the Kerala government has entered into a partnership with Smart City, Dubai for developing a similar model spread over 250 acres in Kochi.
Smart City, Dubai will be investing Rs 4,000 crore over a period of next eight years in Kochi, according to a Telangana government release.
