Dubai-based retail major LuLu Group is opening India’s second largest shopping mall in Thiruvanathapurum, Kerala state’s capital, spending Rs.20 billion ($299 million).
The group opened the country’s biggest shopping mall in the port of city of Kerala, also the home state of its promoter Yusuffali M.A., in 2013, at a cost of Rs.16 billion ($250 million) and it still holds the record and has so far received 60 million footfalls.
The promoters expect a similar response in the state capital as well with its family amusement center, a food court with a capacity of 3,500 guests, restaurants, coffee shops and a nine-screen multiplexes.
The mall, designed by the UK-based Design International consultants, will have parking space for 3,000 cars with easy access from all main roads and will adopt the latest traffic management system, Yusuffali said.
The mixed-use project will be environment-friendly taking LEED certificate specifications for eco-friendly construction and maintenance. The project here also includes a 150-room luxury hotel adjacent to the mall, like in Kochi, and an international convention center.
The LuLu Kochi has a total retail space of 2.2 million square feet in 17 acres.
The mall in Thiruvananthapurum has Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan laying the foundation stone in the presence of Kerala’s opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala, Power Minister Kadakampally Surendran, Revenue Minister E. Chandrasekharan, lawmaker Shashi Tharoor, and former ministers P. K. Kunhalikutty and O. Rajagopal, and UAE Consul General Jamal Husein Al-Zaabi offering felicitation.
Spread over 19 acres at Akkulam adjacent to Kazhakkoottam-Mukkola bypass of the national highway near the city's software hub would create more than 5,000 direct and 20,000 indirect jobs.
This project is claimed to be the largest private investment in Kerala in recent times, joining the LuLu network of 127 shopping malls spread across different countries, mainly in the Middle East.
