KOCHI: The Lulu Group International (LGI) will invest Rs 5,000 crore over the next four to five years in various projects in Kerala which are expected to generate nearly 15,000 job opportunities.
“The investment will mainly be in food processing, the Global City project and IT parks. The exact breakup is being worked out,” M A Ashraf Ali, executive director of LGI, announced on the sidelines of the Invest Kerala Global Summit (IKGS) on Saturday.
Discussions in this regard have been held with Industries Minister P Rajeeve.
While the proposed food-processing zone will come up on 20 acres in Kalamassery, the group will invest in IT and fintech infrastructure in the Global City project, proposed by the state government in Kochi. “The food-processing zone will have extensive cold-storage facilities. Vegetables and fruits will be collected from across the state and even parts of Tamil Nadu and moved to Kochi airport. Value-added products will also be part of the project with 100% export orientation,” he said.
The group’s twin IT towers at Kochi’s Infopark will employ around 25,000 professionals and will be commissioned within three months. In the retail sector, the company is setting up mini shopping malls at Perinthalmanna, Tirur, Kannur, Kasaragod, and Thrissur.
Sharaf Group commits E5k cr
Dubai-based Sharaf Group has also announced an investment of `5,000 crore, mostly in the state’s logistics sector, over the next five years.
Group vice-chairman Sharafuddin Sharaf said the conglomerate, which has been operating in India for the past 28 years with a presence in more than seven cities, chose Kerala for the investment due to the state government’s initiatives to simplify ease of doing business.
“We’ll invest in two dry ports. The location will be finalised after discussions with the state government,” he said, citing advantages like the large pool of highly educated and capable human resource available in the state and ease of doing business.