Hyderabad, Sep 27 (IANS): UAE-based retailer Lulu Group entered Telangana with the opening of its first mall in Hyderabad on Wednesday.

The group also reiterated its commitment to invest Rs.3,500 crore in the state over the next three years.

Telangana’s Minister for Industry KT Rama Rao inaugurated the mall spread over 500,000 square feet.

Lulu group Chairman Yusuff Ali said they were committed to invest Rs.3,500 crore over the next three years in Telangana. The investment will be in a destination shopping mall, mini malls and agriculture sourcing, logistics and processing hub for facilitating 100 per cent exports.

He said the second project would be export-oriented state-of-the-art food processing centre including meat processing in Hyderabad.

“To support the local fishermen community we are planning seafood procurement and processing centre in the constituency of the minister (Sircilla),” he said.

KT Rama Rao said the mall was a first step as the Lulu Group had promised an investment of Rs.3,500 crore in supermarkets, malls, food processing and allied sectors including aqua and fish processing.

He said this would not only create employment opportunities for youths in Telangana but also benefit fish and poultry farmers.

The mall, which has come up in Kukatpally area with an investment of Rs. 300 crore, will offer international shopping experience to the people of Hyderabad and its surrounding areas.

The mall hosts a mega Lulu Hypermarket with more than 75 local and international brands, a five-screen cinema with a seating capacity of 1,400, a multi-cuisine food court, and children's entertainment centre etc.

Lulu Hypermarket offers an extensive range of fresh produce and grocery and will have separate sections for fashion, home appliances, electronics, mobiles, IT, and lifestyle products under the brand names, ‘Lulu Fashion Store’ and ‘Lulu Connect.

Ali had said in June that the Lulu Group would make an additional investment of Rs 200 crore in an export-oriented modern integrated meat processing plant at Chengicherla with a production capacity of 60 tonnes per day. The project will generate employment for more than 2,500 people.

Ali said that Lulu Group’s investment in the state is the outcome of several discussions and a MoU it signed with the Government of Telangana during KTR’s visit to the World Economic Forum last year in Davos.