Bengaluru, Oct 27 (IANS): Leading jewellery retailer Malabar Gold and Diamonds said on Monday that it is expanding its presence across India and Gulf, with 22 more showrooms and a diamond processing unit in Mumbai and a gold processing unit in Dubai.

"The new showrooms will be opened in major cities across India, the Gulf region and the Far East in next six months, taking our total retail outlets to 155," Malabar group chairman M.P. Ahammed said in a statement here.

The expansion plan of the Rs.26,000-crore Kerala-based group is part of its strategic vision to have about 300 outlets by 2020.

"In response to the government's 'Make in India' initiative, we are setting up new processing units at Kinfra industrial park in Kerala and at other industrial parks in Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat and West Bengal," Ahammed said.

Expansion of manufacturing units will generate direct jobs to about 5,000 skilled artisans and indirectly to 15,000 people in the jewellery business.

"We are also building an advanced gold manufacturing unit on a five-acre land in Dubai with the support of the UAE government," Ahammed stated, but did not disclose the cumulative investment being made on the expansion plans.

The group process 1,200 kg of gold annually at its units in Kerala, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Telangana and Maharashtra as well abroad in Doha, Sharjah and Riyadh.

"As more Indians are buying diamond jewellery due to changing lifestyle, higher disposable incomes and for being trendy, the diamond processing unit will be in Mumbai, which is a major centre for diamonds business," Ahammad added.

The group's retail network is spread across nine countries, including Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Malaysia and Singapore. New showrooms will be set up in Hong Kong and Indonesia soon.