Dubai: The UAE-based Pure Gold Group has announced plans to invest $150 million in India in three major business sectors – retail, manufacturing (diamond and gold jewelry) and hospitality over the next three years. The group currently has 25 retail jewelry outlets in India under its flagship brand Pure Gold Jewellers.

“We believe in Indian economy’s strong long-term outlook. This is also the right time for us to expand our gold and jewelry business as with the slump in oil prices, the price of gold is on the rise and we see investors with a long term vision benefitting from this,” said Firoz Merchant, chairman and founder of Pure Gold Group.

“We already have a strong foothold in the Indian market for our gold jewelry outlets. Our new investment plans are aimed at increasing our reach across the country.”

Merchant said that the company plans to increase the capacity of the diamond manufacturing unit it owns in the country.

“With the $150 million investment, we also plan to enter India’s booming hospitality sector which will be a new line of business for us. We will initiate our investment plans this year to be completed by 2017. After this phase is accomplished, I plan to start the second phase of a business plan in India,” he added.

Recent reports by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) predict that India’s economy will overtake China in terms of its annual growth rate by 2016. The IMF released estimates predict that India’s economy will grow at 6.3 and 6.5 percent, respectively, over the next two years, making it the fastest growing emerging economy in the world.