IKEA inks deal to open stores worth Rs2,000 cr in Haryana

Swedish furniture retail giant IKEA on Tuesday signed a memorandum of understanding with the Haryana government and said it will invest around Rs2,000 crore to open its stores in the state.

"IKEA India today inked a memorandum of understanding (MoUs) with the state of Haryana as a major step forward towards establishing retail stores in the state. IKEA will invest an estimated Rs2,000 crore for its retail expansion in Haryana, will employ about 1,000 co-workers directly and engage around 3,000 more for providing services such as furniture assembly, delivery services among others," the company said in a statement.

In 2015, IKEA had signed MoUs with Karnataka, Telangana, Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra to set up stores.

"Haryana is a prioritised state for IKEA due to its open investment climate ... IKEA will set up retail stores to bring high quality, functional home furnishings with affordability and design for the many people," IKEA India chief executive Juvencio Maeztu said.

IKEA said it sees India as an important future market and is evaluating different sites in the prioritised states of Delhi-NCR, Bangalore, Mumbai and Hyderabad.

Earlier this week, IKEA had announced the opening of its first store in India at Hyderabad in the second half of 2017 even as it scouts for more sites in Delhi-NCR, Mumbai and Bengaluru.

The company, which has received the government's approval in 2013 for its Rs 10,500 crore proposal to open retail stores under 100 per cent foreign direct investment norms, plans to open 25 stores by 2025 in nine Indian cities.