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Mumbai, February 22
Swedish furniture retailer IKEA will invest Rs 3,000 crore in Maharashtra over the long term to set up multi-format stores and experience centres.
“We will invest close to Rs 3,000 crore over the long term in the state to set up multi-format stores. We will also open experience centres in Mumbai going forward,” Patrik Antoni, deputy country manager, IKEA, said.
He indicated that the Maharashtra operations will be key for the company, and hence it has allocated sufficient funds to develop the market here.
Initially, the company had earmarked Rs 10,500 crore to open about 25 stores in the country by 2025.
“Now that we have been working to open a few stores, we could increase the investments here going forward,” he said, informing that Delhi-NCR would be another key market for the company.
The retailer has already committed to invest Rs 750 crore over the next 2-3 years in setting up its first distribution centre in Pune.
When asked about the delay in opening the first IKEA store in Hyderabad, he said the company was focusing on safety of workers, and quality of the construction. “We will open it in the next few months,” Antoni added. It is also looking at job creation, as each store would engage about 2,000 co-workers. — PTI
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