Dubai, Sep 21: Khushi Group, a Dubai-based diversified conglomerate led by Sheikh Mohammed Sharif of Mangaluru, has announced the investment of Dh235 million in a number of projects in the UAE.
The investment will be made in transport, education and sporting infrastructure. These include an integrated vehicle testing, driving school and auto repair facility to be built in Sharjah with an investment outlay of Dh90 million. The facility, currently in advanced stage of development is expected to become operational by the first quarter of 2016.
“This is the first privately-held vehicle testing facility in Sharjah, being built with the permission of the Sharjah Transport Authority and marks the first public-private partnership in this sector in the emirate of Sharjah,” said Mr Sharif, Chairman of Khushi Group.
“Once commissioned, this will change the way vehicle testing, repair and road permit renewal is done in Sharjah. It will not only reduce pressure and long queues in the existing vehicle testing facilities, but also offer greater convenience in the process.”
The driving school, part of the overall project, will have a fleet of 250 cars, 25 buses, 10 trucks, 2 bull dozers, 2 fork lifts and 25 bikes. It is being built on a plot of 300,000 square feet.
The company, with diversified interests in fuel trading, transport, energy, media, construction, logistics, real estate, industries and tourism sectors, is also venturing into education and sports infrastructure. It is investing Dh130 million in two schools in Sharjah.
“Of these, the high-profile school at Al Moilah area of Sharjah is being built at a cost of Dh82 million which will be spread across 300,000 square feet area that will host an ICC-standard cricket academy and pitch, a football club, tennis, squash, karate, judo facility, a semi-Olympic size swimming pool, music school, a 1,500-capacity multi-plex auditorium. It will be a British curriculum school with only 1,800 students,” he said.
The second school, with an Indian curriculum, is being built at a cost of Dh48 million. It will have a capacity of 2,100 students.
The company with an annual turnover to the tune of Dh1.5 billion has recently tied up with Ajit Tendulkar and Ajman Cricket Council to develop a cricket academy which will cost Dh15 million to build.
“We expect to commission it by the first half of next year,” Sharif says.
The company also builds large trailers that carry 40 feet and 20 feet containers. “Our trailer manufacturing plants in Ras Al Khor in Dubai and Mussaffah Industrial Area in Abu Dhabi builds 1,000 trailers per annum,” SM Sharif says. “We build trailers ranging from 20 feet to 80 feet long to accommodate maximum load of up to 100 tonnes of cargo.”
These industrial plants are helping the UAE to reduce the country’s dependence on imported trailers and thus save the UAE economy on imported trailers.
The company has a fleet of 200 trailers and 30 oil tankers while it hires 600 trailers on rent at any given day – due to high demand for transport vehicles.
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