Abu Dhabi-based LuLu Group on Saturday launched work on an International Convention Centre, a five star hotel and a retail mall at APIIC grounds at Harbour Park here to promote meetings, incentives, conferencing and exhibitions (MICE) tourism in Visakhapatnam.
By unveiling a plaque, Vice-President M. Venkaiah Naidu laid the foundation stone for the ambitious project at the inaugural of three-day CII Partnership Summit and Sunrise AP Investment Meet in the presence of Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu, Union Ministers Suresh Prabhu and P. Ashok Gajapathi Raju. “We hope to complete this prestigious project by 2021 by providing direct jobs for 5,000 and indirect jobs for another 5,000,” LuLu Group’s Chairman & MD Yusuff Ali MA told The Hindu.
He said: “It will also provide a world-class shopping experience to both tourists and the residents of Sunrise AP.” He said they had made investments worth $2 billion in India and were looking at possibilities for further investment in retail, hospitality and food processing in various parts of the country.
In PPP mode
The total investment on the project to be taken up in PPP mode in over 13 acres with beachfront view will be ₹2,200 crore. It will be developed on the lines of Suntec Singapore Convention and Exhibition Centre. The mall will have two million square ft. Naming it as mixed use project, the construction will be taken up in phases. The convention centre will have a seating capacity for 7,000. The mall will house over 200 national and international brands, two lakh sq. ft hypermarket, 11 screens multiplex, family entertainment centre, food courts with 2500 seats and more than 20 F&B outlets and fine dining concepts.
Naidu’s request
The Chief Minister asked the LuLu Group to complete the construction ahead of schedule as to host important events like CII Partnership Summit at the same venue instead of holding it in temporary structures.
