Bengaluru To Have Country's Third IKEA Store In 2020

Around 40,000 people visited IKEA's first India store on the opening day. (File photograph)

The country's software capital Bengaluru will have a massive IKEA store -- the third in the county - by 2020. The Swedish furniture and home products giant had opened its first store in Hyderabad two months ago. The second is expected to come up at Mumbai next year.

The ground-breaking ceremony for the construction of the 500,000 square feet outlet - as big as the one in Hyderabad -- was held today in Nagasandra.

The Karnataka state government has been supporting the venture. Deputy Chief Minister Dr G Parameshwara, who attended the event, told NDTV, "They have already promised that they will appoint 750 people -- 50% of them women. That is their policy I am told. It is wonderful. This investment, I think about 1500 crores. They will be investing much more even in future."

Patrik Antoni, Deputy Country Manager, IKEA, India was optimistic about India's response to the store.

Hyderabad, he said, has been a big success.

"India is of course a market where it will make a big difference for a range of people as we are coming with a range of products and furniture that is affordable. This building, that  will come up, is about 1,000 crore," he added.

The store, he said, will open up 1000 jobs. "It will be sustainable. It will have solar panels, LED lights... We are trying to make really low impact wherever we go," he added.

In August, IKEA opened its first store in Hyderabad, which received a huge response from the city's techies, many of whom have been acquainted with the brand during their stay abroad. The store is offering 7,500 products -- including 1,000 products priced below Rs. 200.

After Bengaluru, IKEA's next store will open in Delhi. In the next phase, IKEA would cover Ahmedabad, Surat, Pune, Chennai and Kolkata. The company plans to eventually have 40 stores across the country.