RAKIA signs MoU with Andhra Pradesh Government to develop $5bn Hyderabad Economic City

The Hyderabad Economic City is an integrated financial hub and health care city. The MoU was signed by Wahid Attalla, Member of the Board, Rakeen, the real estate development arm of Ras Al Khaimah Investment Authority (RAKIA), and APIIC Chairman and Managing Director B P Acharya, in the presence of Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy.

The financial component of the mega project will include infrastructure facilities to support a full range of financial services, while the state-of-the-art health care city will provide complete facilities for clinical and non-clinical services. Hyderabad Economic City is part of several large-scale satellite townships being developed by RAKIA and master developer Rakeen in several key cities across India.

Commenting on the MoU, Dr. Khater Massaad, CEO, RAKIA said: "The MoU we have signed with the Andhra Pradesh Government is primarily to jointly assess the feasibility of setting up projects like the proposed Hyderabad Economic City, and is specifically aimed at determining potential investor response. At this stage RAKIA does not intend to invest in Andhra Pradesh."

Hyderabad Economic City's financial sector will provide essential infrastructure to support back-office operations for banking, insurance and asset management companies. It will also provide key facilities to host corporate centres for financial services, product markets, capital market and trading operations, IT services, business processing operations, plug-and-play intelligent buildings and IT parks.

The integrated health care component of the mega project will incorporate world-class hospitals, medical colleges, research services for clinical trials, a comprehensive drug delivery system, and facilities for stem cell research and genetic research, among others.

RAKIA is also developing several other townships across the country through RAKINDO, RAKIA's joint venture company in India. Over 3,000 acres of land has been earmarked for various projects in Coimbatore, Chennai, Kumarakom, Hosur and Cochin, each with a projected cost of $2bn.