IKEA

Franchise News,Franchise India News,Hyderabad,Ikea, the world’s largest furniture retailer, has bought its first piece of land in India in Hyderabad, the joint capital of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh states, to build a retail store franchise.

The Swedish company said the 13-acre land was strategically located, close to the information technology hub called

HITEC City, and had easy access to public transport; the plot abuts an upcoming metro railway line.The financial details of the purchase were not disclosed.

The company said it is evaluating suitable sites in Bengaluru, Mumbai and the national capital region (NCR) centred on Delhi to open 25 stores.

“India is a very promising market for Ikea as it offers us the opportunity to source, retail, conduct CSR (corporate social responsibility) initiatives through Ikea Foundation and empower social entrepreneurs through next generation projects. Our focus now is to bring all of it together in Hyderabad as we have bought our first land to build an Ikea store,” Ikea India CEO Juvencio Maeztu said in statement.

Ikea said 50% of managers and workers recruited for the store would be women.

The land purchase follows an agreement the Swedish firm signed with the Telangana government in October. Hyderabad will revert in nine years to Telangana, which was carved out as a separate state from Andhra Pradesh in 2014.

The company’s India arm, Ikea India Pvt. Ltd, wrote to Telangana State Industrial Infrastructure Corp. (TSIIC)—the state government agency that allots land to industrial projects—on 9 March expressing interest in buying a plot in Raidurg, not far from the HITEC City and Gachibowli, where a number of technology companies have offices.

The news comes close to two years after the Swedish furniture chain won Indian government approval to invest in India from the Foreign Investment Promotion Board under the finance ministry, in one of the largest single investments to be made by a single-brand foreign retailer in India.Ikea promised to invest Rs.10,500 crore in India.

A typical Ikea store requires 7-8 acres and takes about 12-18 months to be built from scratch. Each store costs an estimated Rs.500 crore, Maeztu said at a retail summit in September.

The company recently signed an agreement with the Maharashtra government to set up stores in the state. Earlier in September, the retailer signed an agreement with the Karnataka government, promising to invest Rs.500 crore in the state.

“It’s a matter of great pride for Telangana that Ikea has initiated its expansion plans in Hyderabad,” said K.Chandrashekar Rao, chief minister of Telangana, assuring Ikea of support for its future expansion plans in Telangana.



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