'Little India' tourism complex for Duqm

MUSCAT: An Integrated Tourism Complex (ITC), planned at a cost of OMR288 million, is to be developed in phases within the Duqm special economic zone.
The planned mix-use ITC, to be called Little India, will have a wide range of real estate projects, including beach-front villas, apartment units, a five-star hotel, restaurants, a theatre, marina and commercial buildings, said promoters of the project.
Those foreigners purchasing apartment units within the ITC will receive residence visas, just as with any other ITC project in the Sultanate.
A usufruct agreement for allocating 600,000 square metres of land has been signed by the Special Economic Zone Authority in Duqm with Little India, which is the master developer of the tourism complex. To start, work will commence on two projects within the mega complex – a beachfront resort, to be called the Village Resort, which will have 25 villas, and an apartment building with 96 flats of varying sizes of studio, two bed-room and three bed-room apartment units.
“The work on the resort and apartments will start in January 2018.
The resort will be owned by Little India and run by the Marriot hotel chain,” said Pradeep Nair, Managing Director of
Little India.
However, the entire complex is to be completed within a period of 10 to 15 years, added Pradeep Nair.
He noted that his company would be investing $10 million for the proposed apartment project and $2 million for the resort venture.“The resort project will be completed by September 2018, while the apartment units will take at least 14 months (from the date of starting construction) to complete,” noted Pradeep Nair.
Other agreements were also signed by the resort developer on Thursday for securing funds, preparing the master plan and for managing the resort.
Also, a memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed by Little India with Meethaq, the Islamic banking arm of Bank Muscat, for structuring funding for the project, while another agreement was signed with Marriott to manage the resort.
According to the master plan, the Little India project will be developed over a period of 10 to 15 years.“A lot of time is required for conducting environmental assessment studies and getting approval for the master plan,” said Pradeep Nair.
The land lease agreement was signed by Yahya bin Said bin Abdullah Al Jabri, Chairman of the Special Economic Zone Authority in Duqm, with Predeep Nair.
Also, a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for securing financing was signed between Sulaiman bin Hamad Al Harthy, Deputy Chief Executive Officer, Islamic Banking, Bank Muscat, with Pradeep Nair.
Indra Mani Pandey, India’s Ambassador to the Sultanate, and several other businessmen, also attended the signing.
“The signing of the usufruct agreement for the new project is part of Sezad’s efforts to attract quality projects and investments that provide a good addition to Sezad and contribute to enhancing economic diversification,” said Ismail bin Ahmed Al Balushi, Deputy Chief Executive Officer of Sezad.
He pointed out that with the growing interest in Sezad, these projects would provide new opportunities for the development of Duqm, as well as create additional jobs.