NEW DELHI, Feb 27— Ekovest Bhd, a leading engineering and construction company, is exploring the possibility of investing in an 80-hectare (200 acres) slum redevelopment project, located close to Mumbai, India’s financial hub.
Managing director Datuk Seri Lim Keng Cheng said his company would work with a local firm, IIFCL Projects Ltd – a company under India’s Finance Ministry – to come up with a possible masterplan for the project.
Ekovest has no experience in operating any ventures beyond Malaysia.
Lim said the company would fall back on its experience and expertise of being involved in various ventures over the last 15 years, as well input from other Malaysian companies already in India, before making a final commitment.
“When you talk about the redevelopment of slump area, a key issue arising is the relocation of people in the affected area.
“I can foresee several legal issues likely to arise and hope our local partner can assist on this matter,” he told Bernama here.
He said the added experience of the Malaysian Construction Industry Development Board (CIDB) in dealing with the state of Maharashtra – its capital is Mumbai – and India’s central government would be very helpful to Ekovest.
Lim said other than the Mumbai project, Ekovest is also looking at the possibility of constructing a 70-kilometre elevated highway in the southern Indian city of Bengaluru, the capital of Karnataka state.
“We have experience in the construction and operation of this kind of highway, especially, the DUKE Highway project in Malaysia,” he added.
Among the other major projects completed by Ekovest are the Labuan Financial Park, Kuala Lumpur International Airport and Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia in Batu Pahat, Johor.
Lim was part of an 11-member Malaysian delegation headed by the CIDB’s acting chief executive officer Sariah Abdul Karib, who initially met with senior officials of Maharashtra and Karnataka. The delegation, while in New Delhi, also called on the Minister of Road Transport and Highways, Nithin Gadkari.
