An under-construction site of a store of furniture giant Ikea in Hyderabad is shown. AFP

Furniture giant Ikea is set to open its first store and restaurant in India after years of trying but arguably its most famous item is off the menu — Swedish meatballs.

Ikea, the world’s biggest furniture retailer, will next month cut the ribbon on a massive 37,000 square metre outlet in the southern city of Hyderabad, complete with a 1,000-seater cafeteria.

The Swedish furniture company also plans to open in the Philippines.

IKEA Sustainability and Communication Director Lars Svensson said that the company’s Philippines plan will be announced “within this year.”

The restaurant in India will be Ikea’s largest and will cater to local tastes, with religious sensitivities in India dictating that beef and pork, staples of Swedish meatballs, will not be served.

“There will be chicken meatballs and vegetarian balls,” Patrik Antoni, Ikea’s deputy country manager for India, said during an interview in the Indian financial capital of Mumbai.

“Fifty percent of the food will be Swedish inspired, salmon and shrimp dishes and so on.

We’ll also have quite a few Indian dishes like dal makhani, biryani, samosas,” he added.

The Swedish multinational, which revolutionized household furnishings with its range of affordable ready-to-assemble products, is betting big on India as it seeks new revenue sources aside from its key Western markets.

Ikea plans to invest $1.5 billion in Asia’s third-largest economy as it seeks to lure price-sensitive Indians away from satisfying their furniture needs at local, family-run shops.

Ikea had spent close to $750 million procuring sites for four stores, including the Hyderabad one which will open in July on a date that is yet to be announced.

Outlets in Mumbai, Bangalore and the capital New Delhi will follow, Antoni said, without putting a timescale on them. He added that Ikea will then look at Pune, Chennai, Ahmedabad, Surat and Kolkata.

“We are very bullish and excited about the Indian market. Normally, we would test a market by opening one store but in India, we are going all out and expanding,” said Antoni.

At 37,160 square metres the Hyderabad store will be comparable in size to an average Indian shopping mall. It will have 850 employees and is expected to attract several million visitors a year.

As well as its wide range of international items Ikea will also sell goods uniquely suited to the Indian market.

Alongside its popular Billy bookcases and Poang chairs, Ikea will also offer spice boxes and kitchen appliances to make traditional Indian staples such as idlis (rice cakes).

“We have done over a thousand home visits and interviewed people to try to understand their needs, dreams, aspirations and how they feel about their home,” explained Antoni.

India, with its abundant supply of cheap labor, is not known for its “DIY” culture so Ikea has teamed up with UrbanClap, an online platform that helps connect handymen with consumers.

Ikea, founded in 1943 by late Swedish entrepreneur Ingvar Kamprad, operates 418 stores in 49 markets. In May it announced that it would expand into South America with stores in Chile, Colombia and Peru. AFP