Ikea India held its ground-breaking ceremony in Hyderabad on Thursday. A ground-breaking ceremony marks the first day of construction.
The ceremony was attended by the Deputy Chief Minister Mohammad Mahmood Ali, Telandgana Government Chief Secretary Rajiv Sharma, the Mayor of Hyderabad, Bonthu Rammohan, and Head of Section for Trade, Economic and Cultural Affairs from Swedish Embassy, Josa Karre.
The 4,00,000 sq ft facility will open in 2017, and will create 500 direct jobs and another 1,500 in providing services around the store, Ikea said.
The Hyderabad store will offer nearly 7,500 products, with a children's play area for visitors, a day care centre for the employees' children, parking space for 2,000 vehicles and a 1,000-seater restaurant.
Speaking at the occasion, Juvencio Maeztu, CEO, Ikea India, said, "This is a big milestone for us today and all of us are very proud that the first IKEA store in India seems very close to reality now! India is a very important market for IKEA and with Hyderabad, we find a perfect match with cities’ young, dynamic demographics, culture, values and history.
"We have committed to hire 50% women in our workforce and we look forward to a big participation from the society.”
Chief Minister of Telangana State, K. Chandrashekar Rao, said, “I congratulate IKEA on the occasion of the first ground-breaking in India. We welcome IKEA to Hyderabad with the confidence that IKEA will have a very positive impact and contribute to the overall development of young Telangana.
"Ikea will bring in best business practices, innovations, employment opportunities and boost the manufacturing and retail sector, which will help attract other global brands to Telangana. We are extremely proud that a value driven company like IKEA is getting ready to begin its operations in our state and we will extend full cooperation to enable ease of doing business every day in our state.”
