UAE port giant partners with Indian fund for infrastructure investment in India

DUBAI, Jan. 22 (Xinhua) -- Dubai Ports (DP) World, the top port operator in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), announced Monday it has partnered with India's national fund to invest in India's infrastructure projects.

DP, the world's third largest port operator in capacity, said in a statement that it joined hands with India's National Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF) to create an investment platform to invest in ports, terminals, transportation and logistics businesses in India.

This platform will invest up to 3 billion U. S. dollars to acquire assets and develop projects in the sector.

The partnership was set up under the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed in May 2017. It also came after the visit to India by Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, crown prince of Abu Dhabi, and by DP World Group Chairman and CEO Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem in February 2016.

"The platform will also look at opportunities beyond sea ports such as river ports and transportation, freight corridors, port-led special economic zones, inland container terminals, and logistics infrastructure including cold storage," said the statement.

"DP World has been a part of India's growth story for nearly two decades and we are delighted to continue our success by joining forces with a strong strategic partner, the NIIF," Sulayem said.

He added this partnership "is the right combination to take advantage of the significant growth opportunities in India."

Sujoy Bose, CEO of the NIIF, hailed this as "a good example of how NIIF can work with international capital and expertise to invest at scale to build critical infrastructure in India." Enditem