The state of the art food park will be setup in Kalamassery in the south India state of Kerala, reports Asian Lite News
UAE-based leading retail conglomerate Lulu Group on Tuesday announced that it will invest Rs 400 crore to setup food park in south Indian state of Kerala. The announcement on the major investments plans in food sector comes at Gulfood 2022, which is being held in Dubai World Trade Centre.
The food park in Kerala is one of the three food parks being setup by the UAE in India.
The chairman of the retail giant, Yusuffali MA, revealed that Lulu will invest Rs 4 billion for setting up a state of the art food park in Kalamassery in Kerala.
“As part of strengthening its own food processing centres in India, Lulu will invest Rs 400 crore for setting up a state-of-the-art food park in Kalalmassery in Kerala,” Lulu said in a statement.
The project is expected to be operational by fourth quarter of 2023, the Khaleej Times reported.
The latest investment is over and above the recent Rs 11 billion investment announced for Noida, Srinagar and Kochi, bringing total value to Rs15 billion investment in food processing by the group.
Meanwhile, Lulu has imported the first consignment of Indian eggs, which was banned for the last 15 years in UAE. The group has imported four containers of Indian eggs, after the ban was lifted recently, the Khaleej Times reported.
Lulu also unveiled and launched its new private label brand ‘Goodness Forever’ during the Gulfood 2022. Under this brand Lulu will manufacture and sell a large range of premium speciality products such as organic, free from range, sugar free and similar healthy food products. These products are being manufactured exclusively for Lulu by leading food companies in Italy, Spain and UK, it was reported.
In January, Jammu and Kashmir government had signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with LuLu Group to set up a food processing and logistics hub in Srinagar. The deal was signed during the inauguration of Jammu and Kashmir promotion week at the LuLu Hypermarket in Dubai.
In December, UAE Minister for Foreign Trade, Thani Ahmed Al Zeyoudi visited Kerala and met with Chief Minister of the State Pinarayi Vijayan.
Kerala CM and the UAE minister also discussed the construction of a housing complex with the help of Red Crescent, Dubai. He said action would be taken to complete the project with the Red Cross.
The UAE Minister also agreed to see that steps are taken to see that the ongoing project of the Kerala Government, Life Mission (building homes for the weaker sections) is completed, said Pinarayi Vijayan.
In December, the Lulu group announced an investment of Rs 2,000 crore near Ahmedabad to set up a modern shopping mall.
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It has also announced an investment of Rs 500 crore to set up a food processing plant in Greater Noida, Uttar Pradesh.
Lulu Group is a major player in the economic scenario of the Middle East with an annual turnover of USD 8 billion and staff force of more than 57,000. Worldwide operations cover business divisions in retail segment for the popular hypermarket brand, shopping mall destinations, food processing plants, wholesale distribution, hospitality properties, and real estate development.
Retail stores present in the UAE, India, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Egypt, Malaysia, and Indonesia; with distribution companies located in India, US, Europe, Middle East countries, and the Philippines and more trading offices expected to rise in Turkey, and Vietnam.