Tata Group Would Make USD200 Million In Profit In First 15 Years Of Agreement: MP Saeed

The former Economic Minister, MP Mohamed Saeed (PPM-Maavashu), has stated that the Tata Group would recover USD675 million in the first 15 years of granting them an island for resort development, as a result of this government's renewal of the agreement signed between the short-lived Nasheed administration of 2008-2012 and the Mumbai-based multinational conglomerate.

The agreement had granted the Tata Group two plots of land in Male City and an island for resort development in exchange for the construction of 288 housing units as part of the Nasheed administration's social housing scheme.

MP Saeed's comments on Twitter came in response to the announcement that the Solih administration had intended on renewing the old agreement with the Tata Group.

MP Saeed remarked that 14 years into granting the Tata Group those plots of land, they were in the company's "locked safe"; there was no sign of any work that had been begun on the plots that had been granted to the Tata Group.

He stated that Lossalafushi (Lhaviyani Atoll) that had been granted to the Tata Group for resort development would earn the Indian conglomerate a monthly revenue of USD45 million, and that the island would be granted to the company for 99 years. He estimated that the conglomerate would make USD675 million in revenue in the first 15 years, and USD200 million of that revenue would be profit. The island would remain under the control of the Indian company for 85 years after that point.

He noted that the agreement required that any dispute would be presided over by an arbitration centre in Mumbai.