Navi Mumbai-headquartered BSEL Infrastructure Realty Ltd has signed a memorandum of understanding with Iskandar Regional Development Authority, a Malaysian government statutory body, to invest Rs 18,000 crore in the Iskandar region over a period of 12 years. As per the MoU, IRDA will assist BSEL in securing approvals from various authorities to facilitate the development process.
The investment of Rs 18,000 crore committed by BSEL will be disbursed in three phases in intervals of four years. Investment in phase-I will be Rs 2,500 crore. Malaysia has planned to develop five economic zones at Iskandar, and BSEL has committed to invest in two of them. This collaboration is understood to be the first with an Indian company for development projects in Iskandar.
Speaking to Projectmonitor, an official of BSEL Infrastructure said that the investment of Rs 18,000 crore would include land acquisition and development cost. The development plan in phase-I will be 10 million sq. ft and will cover both residential and commercial development.
Incorporated in 1995 as Bell South Enterprises Ltd, BSEL Infrastructure Realty Ltd is currently engaged in real estate development spread over areas like hospitality, hotels, IT parks, townships, retail outlets and shopping malls. It has projects in India and UAE.
Iskandar Development Region is located in Johor, the southern gateway to Peninsular Malaysia. Through Iskandar Development Region Authority, a comprehensive plan to develop IDR has been formulated with a view to decongest neighbouring global business centres like Dubai, Hong Kong, Shanghai and Tokyo. IDR, spread over 2,217 sq. km of area, has a population of 1.35 million with two-thirds belonging to the working age group. For a frame of reference, IDR is three times the size of Singapore. The comprehensive development plan envisages the creation of five economic zones - JB City Centre, Nusajaya, Western Gate Development, Eastern Gate Development and Senai-Skudai.