Ingka Group, which owns Ingka Centres and Ikea Retail, considers India among its top three priority markets. Ingka Centres is investing close to one billion euros to set up two Ikea-anchored meeting places in Gurugram and Noida. The company’s top executive said Ingka Centres is looking to open more meeting places in the country and has a clear vision for expansion plans. While both the existing meeting places are greenfield projects, the retail major said it is also open to look at brownfield projects for future expansion in India as per its global strategy. 

The retail major on Monday unveiled its second meeting place in India, under the brand Lykli, in the heart of Noida in the presence of Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.

Sebastian Hylving, Global Expansion & Development Director, Ingka Centres, told businessline, that while the meeting place in Gurugram is slated to open in 2026, the Noida meeting place will open in 2028.

“ We are investing roughly one billion euros in developing these two meeting places and we have more in the pipeline. We follow Ikea Retail and go wherever they expand. India is among the top three priority markets for the group and we, for sure, have an appetite to expand further in India,” he added.

“ India is a growing economy with a rapidly developing retail landscape and there is a lot of aspiration in the country. But most of the retail offerings in the country are shopping centres which are more for transactional purposes. Our meeting places aim to cater to the local needs and consumers not only come there to shop but also to eat, live, work and play. I believe this will be a key differentiator. We blend our global practices with local knowledge with a strong focus on sustainability practices. We would like to set a new benchmark in the India retail market landscape,” Hylving explained. 

Expansion plans

Asked about the strategy for future expansion plans for Ingka Centres in India, he said, “ We are constantly exploring, and we have quite a good assessment of the overall Indian market. We are zooming in on some opportunities, but there is also competition for land. But we have a clear picture of how we want to expand.”

Responding to a query on how the company may speed up expansion, Hylving said, “ As per our global strategy, Globally, Ingka Centres explores both greenfield and brownfield opportunities for expansion in all our markets.”

The company is investing about 607 million euros (₹5,500 crore) in developing its Noida meeting place, which is spread across 47,833 sq. m. Anchored by an Ikea store, it will have about two office towers, 240 stores and a hotel with 267 keys. It expects to attract 25 million visitors every year. “Lykli Noida will be Ingka Centres’ first meeting place in the world with a hotel as part of the mixed-use development. Overall it will generate over 9000 jobs in the market,” he added. 

“The one in Gurugram will be the first meeting place to open in India and is similar in size but with a very different configuration. Besides an Ikea store, it will house 253 stores. 

Ingka Centres also has tailor-made concepts for its meeting places, including Circuit, “which aims too establish a thriving, circular economy”; Saluhall, its food hall and Hej! Workshop, a community workspace with IKEA home furnishings range.” We will explore bringing these or new concepts to our meeting places in India,” he added