A foundation stone for Bharat Mart, a market and trading platform for Indian businesses in Dubai, was laid at the World Governments Summit 2024 in Dubai.
Expected to open in 2026, the project will cover an area of 2.7 million square feet, with the first phase encompassing 1.3 million square feet.
Situated in the Jebel Ali Free Zone (Jafza), Bharat Mart will work as a mega distribution hub for Indian businesses to trade domestically in the UAE and re-export to regional and global markets.
His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, and Narendra Modi, Prime Minister of India, laid the foundation stone.
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Bharat Mart is projected to house 1,500 showrooms catering to retail and wholesale customers. It will have over 700,000 square feet of Grade A warehousing space. The facility will also offer light industrial units, office spaces and meeting facilities.
Bharat Mart will be located 11 km from Jebel Ali Port, the largest seaport in the Middle East, and 15 km from Al Maktoum International Airport, providing seamless multimodal logistics solutions for Indian exporters. Through the Jebel Ali ecosystem, traders will have direct connectivity to more than 150 maritime destinations and air links to over 300 cities.
Bharat Mart to boost trade ties
Dubai plays a significant role in the trade relationship between the UAE and India, with 87 percent or $44.9 billion of the total non-oil trade value of $51.4 billion flowing through the emirate in 2022. Close to 1,500 Indian businesses have made Jafza their home in the UAE, trading more than five million metric tonnes of cargo valued at $8.6 billion.
Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and Chairman of The Executive Council of Dubai, also attended the ceremony. S Jaishankar, External Affairs Minister of India; Ajit Doval KC, National Security Advisor of India; Vinay Kwatra, Foreign Secretary, Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India; Sunjay Sudhir, Ambassador of India to the UAE; and Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem, Chairman and CEO of DP World Group, were also present.
“By laying the foundations for Bharat Mart, we are paving the way for stronger trade ties between the UAE and India. Our nations have set themselves the target of reaching $100 billion in non-oil bilateral trade by 2030. Bharat Mart will support this goal, creating more opportunities for Indian manufacturers and contributing to government initiatives like Make in India and D33,” Bin Sulayem said.
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