Member Article

Malhotra Group head highlights further investment at prestigious Indian conference...

THE head of a North East PLC has announced further plans for investment in India at a prestigious conference in his home city.

Meenu Malhotra, chair and founder of Malhotra Group PLC recently travelled to Ludhiana to take part in the Progressive Punjab Investors’ Summit, taking to the rostrum at the state summit session.

And he used his speech to the audience to highlight an additional ambitious scheme for the city, following the unveiling of a £150m plan earlier this year.

Mr Malhotra announced in January the company’s plans for a 15 acres site which was to be one of the largest investments in the Malhotra Group’s 40 year history.

The ambitious “one stop shop” plan– which will create thousands of employment opportunities – will include the creation of ten towers which will house 800 two, three and four bedroomed studio apartments, a 300,000 sq ft shopping mall with national and international retail outlets and restaurants, a hotel plus a multiplex cinema.

Now the company has revealed details of its second project; the development of the Imperial Golf Estate, also at Ludhiana.

“It’s our intention to develop on this site, a series of world class facilities,” Mr Malhotra told the international audience.

“This will involve a bespoke 18 hole golf course, designed by Jack Nicklaus, a five star hotel, international schools in collaboration with educational establishments in the UK, a world class health farm with spa, conference facilities, a club house, upmarket fashion retail and restaurants, along with villas for 800 residents.”

Mr Malhotra added that “it is the right time for NRIs (non resident Indians) and foreign investors to invest in Punjab” and that he had “been confident to invest in a second project because of the support he had received from Invest Punjab and the Punjab Government.”

“My experience in Punjab has instilled in me a confidence about the proactive approach and the ease of doing business here,” he said, while urging other international businesses to follow suit.

The founder of the Malhotra Group PLC revealed that he came to the UK more than 40 years ago at age 18, when “the wisdom was that the opportunities outside of Indian were far better than inside India.”

“The same certainly cannot be said today,” he added.

He has created the highly successful company, which has its headquarters in Newcastle and operates across leisure, care and property developments., along with owning a large, national, commercial property portfolio.

However he has always had a long-held dream to build something in his home city – a dream that is now one step nearer realisation.

Along with the two developments, Mr Malhotra intends to extend his long-established mentoring support for SMEs, start-ups and little angels in the UK to India.

“I have always been a patriotic Indian and a proud Punjabi and my home town of Ludhiana remains very close to my heart,” said Mr Malhotra.

“I am delighted to have been able to be part of such an important summit and to share the platform with policy makers, the Chief Minister, senior bureaucrats and other companies and investors from around the world who recognise the opportunities the Punjab has to offer.”

Mr Malhotra will divide his time between India and the UK, although he will remain at the helm, while the day to day running of the business will be conducted by his brother, Bunty, who heads up the care division and his son, Atul.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Sorted PR .