The foundation stone for Bharat Mart, a market and trading platform for Indian businesses in Dubai, has been laid by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, and Narendra Modi, Prime Minister of India. The ceremony took place during the World Governments Summit 2024.
Plans for the marketplace were unveiled by DP World. Expected to open in 2026, Bharat Mart will offer a world-class trading platform for Indian manufacturers and exporters to access global markets, a story by WAM outlined.
Bharat Mart is projected to house 1,500 showrooms catering to retail and wholesale customers, and over 700,000sqft of Grade A warehousing space, providing tenants with combined free zone and onshore benefits. The facility will also offer light industrial units, office spaces and meeting facilities. It will be located 11km from Jebel Ali Port, and 15 km from the Al Maktoum International Airport, providing multimodal logistics solutions for Indian exporters.
Conceived to spread over an area of 2.7m sqft, the project is to become a mega distribution hub for Indian businesses to trade domestically in the UAE and re-export to regional and global markets. Phase One of the project encompasses an area of 1.3m sqft.
The foundation stone laying ceremony was attended by Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and Chairman of The Executive Council of Dubai, along with other high-profile dignitaries including 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.
“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 US $100bn in non-oil bilateral trade by 2030, and Bharat Mart will support this goal, creating more opportunities for Indian manufacturers and contributing to government initiatives like Make in India and D33,” said Bin Sulayem.
He added, “With our world-class infrastructure, logistics capabilities and business-friendly ecosystem in Jebel Ali Free Zone (Jafza), Bharat Mart will be the ideal gateway for Indian goods to efficiently reach the UAE and other high-growth markets in the Middle East, Europe and Africa.”
Through the Jebel Ali ecosystem, traders will have direct connectivity to more than 150 maritime destinations and air links to over 300 cities, the report said.
Abdulla Bin Damithan, CEO and Managing Director, DP World GCC remarked, “India is among the UAE’s top five trade partners, a relationship that has been significantly accelerated by a post-pandemic economic surge. This has created a dynamic trade landscape, and we remain steadfast in our commitment to fostering continued growth. Bharat Mart is designed to complement Jafza’s existing offerings, providing Indian SMEs with a seamless platform to export their cargo to new markets and strengthening our position as a key trade gateway between the two nations.”