Dubai-based realty firm Emaar Properties on Monday said it will develop a 5 lakh square feet shopping mall at Srinagar in Jammu & Kashmir. A memorandum of understanding (MoU) has been signed between the governments of Dubai and Jammu & Kashmir to facilitate investments into this proposed project, Emaar said in a statement.

This will be the first significant FDI investment in the union territory, it added. According to the MoU, Emaar will develop 'Emaar Mall' of 5,00,000 square feet in size in Srinagar. "The UAE and India are comprehensive strategic partners and this project by EMAAR will be a landmark of Jammu and Kashmir. I would like to congratulate EMAAR and all the partners in this project, and am sure we will see many such projects coming up in the near future," said H. E. Ahmed Abdul Rahman Albanna, the UAE Ambassador to India.

"The UAE and India economic partnership is at an inflection point and we will invite other UAE investors to look at this opportunity too," he said. Mohamed Alabbar, Founder of Emaar, said the company intends to bring a world-class mall experience to residents of Jammu and Kashmir and also the tourists.

"EMAAR is also considering other investments into real estate, hospitality and mixed use commercial and residential projects in Jammu and in Srinagar," Alabbar said. "The Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir has created a very attractive investment landscape, and this FDI project is a reflection of the close brotherly relations between UAE and India. We are looking forward to several projects being announced in the near future and significant employment opportunities being created in the process," said Aman Puri, Consul General of India in Dubai.

Last month, the Jammu and Kashmir government opened the union territory to the country's real estate investors by signing 39 MoUs worth nearly Rs 19,000 crore at a real estate summit held in Jammu. As many as 20 MoUs were signed for the development of housing projects, while 7 were inked for commercial, 4 for hospitality, 3 infratech, 3 film and entertainment and 2 finance projects. In 2005, Emaar Properties entered the Indian real estate market in partnership with India's MGF group and invested Rs 8,500 crore through joint venture Emaar MGF Land.

However, in April 2016, it decided to end this joint venture. In January 2018, the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) had approved the proposed demerger scheme of Emaar MGF Land, paving the way for two joint venture partners - Emaar Properties and MGF Development - to go separate ways. Emaar India is developing real estate projects mainly in Delhi-NCR and Punjab.

First Published:Jan 3, 2022 6:29 PM IST