Kochi: Chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan will inaugurate Lulu Bolgatty international convention centre and Grand Hyatt, a mega project of Lulu Group International, the UAE-headquartered retail conglomerate, on Saturday.
Union minister Nitin Gadkari along with other Central and state ministers, foreign dignitaries and several prominent personalities will be present at the event.
Addressing a press conference here on Wednesday, Yusuff Ali M.A., chairman and managing director of Lulu Group, said that the Rs 1,800-crore project is a part of the group’s Rs 13,000 crore expansion plan in India in retail, hospitality and food processing.
“The tourism and related sectors in the state will see tremendous growth in both revenue and economic activities with the increase in MICE (meetings, incentives, conventions and exhibitions) sector. Kochi and Kerala will emerge as the MICE hub of the country,” he said.
The convention centre, billed as largest of its kind in the country, with over 10 lakh square feet of indoor and outdoor space, has a total capacity to accommodate around 10,000 people.
Liwa is the largest hall in the convention centre with 20,000 square feet that can take more than 5,000 people at a time. The convention centre has three helipads and parking capacity for more than 1500 cars.
Bookings for various venues will start from August, and currently, around 1,000 staff members have been hired. Lulu Group’s other projects in Kerala that are undergoing construction are a shopping mall in Thiruvananthapuram, the cyber tower at Infopark in Kochi which can accommodate 10,000 people and expansion of its convention centre in Thrissur.
Speaking on behalf of the Grand Hyatt group, general manager Girish Bhagat called the project as their biggest opening till now in the country. "The hotel will change the face of hospitality, not just in Kerala but across India,” he said.
