Bharat Mart, India's Answer To China's Dragon Mart, Expected To Be Operational In UAE By 2025

Bharat Mart, India's proposed warehousing facility in the United Arab Emirates, likely to become operational by 2025.

The facility would provide Indian exporters with a unified platform to display their products, mirroring the functionality of China's Dragon Mart.

Although the idea is still in its developmental stages, Bharat Mart is projected to cover over 100,000 square meters, serving as a multipurpose facility that combines warehouse, retail, and hospitality spaces, Economic Times reported citing officials.

According to an official quoted in the ET report, the idea is to set up a base and do trading from the UAE.

"The genesis of this project is that China has similar facilities there which are helping their exporters," the official added.

The significance of the project lies in the objective of India and the UAE to double their non-oil trade target to $100 billion by 2030 as part of the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) that was implemented last year.

The facility is planned to be set up in Jebel Ali Free Zone (JAFZA), a DP World company.

"Bharat Mart is poised to become a mega-distribution hub to support the exports of made in India products to the world," said Abdulla Al Hashmi, the Chief Operating Officer of Parks and Zones at DP World GCC.

He further added that this move would be beneficial for Indian firms seeking to broaden their operations into Africa, Europe, and the US.

Hashmi stated that this would help in decreasing both the time and expense associated with transporting goods between India and these nations.

Bharat Mart will encompass retail showrooms, warehouses, offices, and ancillary facilities, and will be designed to house a diverse range of goods, from perishable items to heavy machinery.

Further, a digital platform could also be set up for buyers across the world to procure goods from the facility.

Ajay Sahai, the director general of the Federation of Indian Export Organisations, stated that Bharat Mart will significantly help Indian exporters in displaying their products to buyers not only in the Middle East, but also in Africa and Central Asia, who often travel to Dubai for their import requirements.

He added that the availability of financing options and logistics facilities in the UAE further streamlines this process.