Dubai firm may partner in developing Smart City in MP

Shivraj Singh Chouhan today held a meeting in this regard with Abdullatif AlMulla, CEO of SmartCity Dubai

Madhya Pradesh is expecting partnership of Dubai firms in another Smart City project to be developed between Indore and Bhopal. Abdullatif AlMulla, CEO of SmartCity Dubai and MP chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan today held a meeting in this regard in Dubai.

Almulla is also the chief business development officer of Dubai Holding, the company which is the main promoter of the SmartCity in Kochi.

"A team of Smart City Dubai will visit Madhya Pradesh for exploring possibilities of developing a smart city between the state capital Bhopal and Indore," a government source said here today.

On the maiden day of his Dubai visit, Chouhan on August 19 had met the company's chief executive officer Abdullatif Almulla who has expressed interest in development of a Smart City in Madhya Pradesh also, the official further said.

During the discussion the company officials agreed upon participating in the October Global Investors' Summit to be organized in Indore.

Smart City Dubai has been given necessary permission recently to construct the first building of Kochi Smart City with an investment of $29 million.

The company develops knowledge-based commercial cities that includes modern township equipped with digitized automation system. The Kochi Smart City will be the first in India which would be automated township where knowledge-based companies would operate.

"Investors in Dubai today organized a meeting with Chouhan and have evinced interest in tourism, food-processing, renewable energy and infrastructure development. A number of proposals have been received today in these sectors," the source said.

Chouhan, state industry minister Yashodhara Raje Scindia, other ministers and officials are on three-day business visit to Dubai and Abu Dhabi to invite various investors in forthcoming Global Investors Summit. The state government has already extended as many as 200 invitations to various corporate houses and is expecting huge investment proposals.