OCCUPIED SRINAGAR: Indian held Kashmir is to get its first foreign investment, with Dubai’s Emaar Group due to build a $60 million shopping and office complex.

The 5 billion rupee ($60.50 million) development will include a shopping mall and multi-purpose commercial tower in Occupied Srinagar, the capital of the Muslim-majority Himalayan region, Emaar announced at an investment summit in the city.

The announcement on Sunday of what the region’s government said was its first foreign investment comes after the central government said last week that Jammu and Kashmir had received record investment of 15 billion rupees ($181 million) in the first 10 months of the 2022-23 (April-March) fiscal year.

Emaar Properties CEO Amit Jain told reporters that the investment would have a ripple effect.

“This is the start, we should inspire people, people should aspire to follow us. This is a one million square feet mall with 500 shops and will generate around 7,000 to 8,000 jobs,” Jain said after the ground-breaking ceremony for the “Mall of Srinagar”.

Emaar, builder of the world’s tallest tower, the Burj Khalifa, is Dubai’s largest listed developer. The Dubai government owns a minority stake in the developer through its sovereign wealth fund.

Top administrator Manoj Sinha said the project had infused confidence in foreign investors and would boost the region’s economy. —Reuters