NRI to build India's largest 'shoppertainment' mall

NRI to build India's largest 'shoppertainment' mall:
India Abroad News Service

After building royal palaces, majestic villas, grandiose mosques and posh hotels in the Gulf, a non-resident Indian has set his sights on India's Silicon Valley to build the country's largest retail mall.

P.N.C. Menon, who has lived in Oman for the last three decades, is embarking on his new venture - Sobha Global Mall in the heart of the city at an estimated cost of Rs.15 billion ($345 million).

"As of today, our upcoming mall project will be the largest in India, spread over 17 acres with a built up area of 2.8 million sq. feet. The mall complex is being developed on the site where old Minerva Mills of the National Textile Corporation (NTC) was located. It was bought for Rs.660 million ($15 million) in an open auction.

Apart from a shopping complex, an amusement park, 192-room plush hotel, convention centre, multiplex and smart offices, the mall will boast of an Olympic size ice skating rink, the first of its kind in the sub-continent," Menon told reporters Thursday.

Menon set up the Sobha Group, the Indian subsidiary of Muscat-based Services & Trade Group (S&T), with the aim of introducing international benchmarks and expertise in the Indian construction industry. The group's parent company has presence in Qatar and the UAE.

To be jointly developed with Davnam Constructions Ltd, headed by former Karnataka minister D.K. Shivkumar, the mall will also have parking bays for about 4,500 cars at a time and a discotheque that will accommodate over 1,000 people.

"We are taking up the project in phases to build the mall in a modular way and it will become operational from 2008-09. We intend to make the mall a one-stop destination having everything from high end luxury goods to economy shopping, exciting recreational activities and social and business interaction opportunities," Menon said.

With Bangalore emerging as the hub of well-heeled travellers and opinionated consumers, the mall will address a full spectrum of social-cum-business requirements.

"We are also planning to have a contemporary business tower along with the convention centre to meet the needs of modern establishments. I came to India with a dream of bringing international quality to the local construction industry," he said.

World-renowned architect and design consultant Neil Jeffrey is associated with the project, which is expected to create about 10,000 direct and indirect jobs when fully operational.

The Rs.10 billion ($230 million) Sobha group has built Infosys' campuses across the country, including its latest corporate leadership institute in Mysore.

The group is projecting a turnover of Rs.12 billion in fiscal 2005-06 based on the estimates of a dozen projects it is handling presently.

The Times of India adds:

The traffic issue in the area will be addressed in two ways. The facility will offer covered parking bays for over 4,500 cars, and a significant portion of the land is being surrendered for broadening the roads around the property into 8-lane ones.