UAE-based LuLu   Group International has announced plans to invest Rs 10 billion to set up an international convention centre, a five-star hotel and a mall in Lucknow if Uttar Pradesh government is willing to fast-track the required clearances.

Lulu Group Managing Director M.A. Yousuf Ali told Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav at a gathering of the Indian diaspora at the first UP Pravasi Diwas in Agra that he was impressed by the work being done in the state and was ready to invest.

He urged Yadav to inaugurate two sporting facility complexes constructed at Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) for which he donated Rs.50 million each.

LuLu has over 35,600 employees of various nationalities and is one of the largest retail chains in Asia and is the biggest in the Middle East with 118 outlets in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries and one in Kochi in Kerala.