IKEA scouting for land in Noida to establish its store

After opening its first store in the country in Hyderabad, international furniture and home accessories company IKEA has set its sights on Uttar Pradesh. Scouting for land for a store in Noida, the company has informed the government that it is proposing to invest more than Rs 5,000 crore in the state in the coming years through retail outlets and e-commerce. IKEA had signed an MoU with the Samajwadi Party government in 2015 to set up a store each in Lucknow, Agra and Noida with an investment of approximately Rs 500 crore in each. Sources in IKEA said that since entering the market, their plans had been evolving according to the market situation and at present, the company was focussing on setting up an outlet in Noida only. IKEA India CEO Peter Betzel said that the company was in dialogue with the UP government to facilitate its entry into the state. "Our proposed investment is more than Rs 5,000 crore in the state over the coming years. There will be employment for more than 4,000 co-workers directly and 4,000 jobs indirectly," he said. Betzel added that the company was looking to set up a mix of large and small city centre format stores across the state, which would be accompanied by an e-commerce platform in the coming months.