IKEA’s retail operator to invest 500 mn euros to open city center in Noida

IKEA’s retail operator Ingka Group is planning to invest €500 million in Noida to open more centres around the city. 

“The planned investment so far is around €500 million (in the Noida meeting place project). It’s a large project that will be finalised. The decision will hopefully be taken within six months,” Jan Kristensson, global expansion and development director at Ingka Centres, told Business Standard in an interview.

Currently, the company is about to start its main construction work in Gurugram for an IKEA-anchored meeting place. Investment is estimated to be around €400 million (Rs 3,500 crore). The place will open across 250,000 square (sq.) feet (ft).

Both the centre will take the total investment of Ingka Centre to €900 million. The total building of Gurugram’s new meeting place will consist of nine floors and is set to be open by late 2025. The place will offer a mix of food and beverage and edutainment learning spaces with a retail offer launched by IKEA.

In the press statement released by Ingka Centres, they are expecting a footfall of 20 million customers annually. Also, they are not planning to open more meeting places as of now. They are still exploring places for their next location. 

“We have no immediate plans, but we will see if we can find similar locations or other locations where we can support the store,” said Kristensson, adding, “We will not do any development without an IKEA store. In this case, it is a standard IKEA store, but it can also be in other formats in other locations.”

Currently, IKEA has 5 stores across India based in Hyderabad, Navi Mumbai, and Bengaluru and two city stores in Mumbai. Gurugram will be its first meeting place in India.