Thursday 25 / April / 2024
Muscat: A multi-million dollar beachfront development dubbed ‘Little India’ will enable foreign investors who buy homes there to obtain residency cards.
The project, to provide luxury seafront homes in the Duqm development zone, will open from next year, and signals the first of many projects to enhance the port of Duqm, key to the Oman government’s non-oil future.
After Eid, construction will also start on a seafront cluster of luxury apartments called ‘The Pearl’.
Expats buying these homes are guaranteed residency in Oman.
Parts of the Little India project, which includes chalets, a resort and beachfront properties, are set to be completed and operational by 2020, developers say.
Aimed at the tourism market, the new project’s beachfront chalets will be available to rent while larger villas and seafront properties will be available for purchase.
Pradeep Nair, Managing Director and investor in Little India, told Times of Oman: “The master development plan has been approved by SEZAD, and we’ve started construction of the Village resort, with 26 beachfront properties, which will be opened by next year.”
An agreement for allocating 600,000 square metres of land was signed in December 2017 by the Special Economic Zone Authority in Duqm with Little India, the master developer of the tourism complex.
The Pearl project, which is made up of 150 studio apartments, should be completed in 18 months after construction begins, shortly after the Eid holiday.
Nair said: “The construction at The Pearl will start after Eid. It consists of flats that face the sea, and each of these will cost OMR25,000.
“The tourist resort is made for tourists, but the Pearl is different. People in India, as well as Indians who work in Oman and who are around retirement age and want to stay here, will be able to become a resident of Oman to continue to enjoy the Omani culture and Omani environment.”
According to Nair, “This residency will be held as long as they hold the property, and this has already been approved.”
The Little India project, in total, will include a large amount of investment flowing into Oman.
“This project will include an investment of around $750 million over ten years. The reason we invested is seeing the vision of His Majesty Sultan Qaboos bin Said for Duqm as a business hub, something to link the east and the west.
“Also, we have confidence in the Indo-Omani bilateral relationship, and since the Indian government is actively involved in Duqm, this gives Indians more comfort and reason to be in Duqm as investors,” he added.
According to the Special Economic Zone Authority of Duqm (Sezad), “C.R Chowdhury, Indian State Minister of Commerce and Industry, confirmed India’s interest in boosting economic relations between Oman and India, pointing to the trade exchange between the two countries and the Indian investments in the Sultanate” during a two-day Duqm promotional campaign which was held in New Delhi at the end of January.
Oman participated in Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit and Exhibition 2019 with an economic delegation led by Yahya bin Said al Jabri, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Ithraa, Chairman of Board of Director of SEZAD, where the Indian PM Narendra Modi was briefed on Oman’s trade partnerships in India.
