Billionaire Wang Jianlin’s Dalian Wanda Group agreed to spearhead a $10bn project to build an industrial park in India, in what could become one of the biggest development projects in the country.
Wanda Group, China’s biggest commercial-property developer, signed a preliminary agreement with the northern Indian state of Haryana to build an industrial zone, the company said in a statement on Friday. The first phase of “Wanda Industrial New City,” whose construction may begin this year, will span 13 square kilometres (5 square miles) and house companies in industries ranging from software to cars and healthcare, it said.
Should the project be completed, it would mark as a victory for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s efforts to bring in foreign capital as the development would rank among the biggest such investments in Asia’s third-largest economy. The proposal also highlights the growing ambitions of a business tycoon who already boasts an estimated wealth exceeding anyone in Asia.
The investment’s scale suggests it would be the largest foreign investment into India, said Sanjay Dutt, executive managing director for South Asia at Cushman & Wakefield in Mumbai. Wanda will be largely responsible for investing in the initial infrastructure and the company will attract Chinese and other international companies to participate in the development and setting up operations, according to the statement. The agreement is the result of talks between Wang, Modi and Haryana State Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar that began in June 2015, according to the statement.
A “Wanda Cultural Tourism City” and a residential district may also be developed as part of the project, according to the statement.
Representatives at the group couldn’t immediately specify how much of the total investment amount would come from the Chinese conglomerate, although an earlier Chinese statement from Wanda’s WeChat microblog account said it would invest $10bn.
It’s been a busy month for Wang, whose sprawling business ranges from property to malls, entertainment and finance. In January alone, Wanda Group announced it will invest $2.3bn to build three hospitals in China, it agreed to buy “Godzilla”– producer Legendary Entertainment for $3.5bn and announced the formation of a financial group as part of a reorganisation of his empire.