Master developer Abu Dhabi Ports and Al Dahra Agriculture broke ground on their rice milling, storage and distribution plant at Khalifa Industrial Zone Abu Dhabi (Kizad).
The building structure of the overall Al Dahra Kohinoor facility is well underway and has entered the next phase of construction.
The ground breaking ceremony took place on their 100,106 sqm project site in attendance of senior officials from both companies as well as representatives from the Abu Dhabi Food Control Authority and Abu Dhabi Food Security.
This $38m (AED140m) facility, currently the first of its kind and set to be the largest rice mill factory in the Gulf region, will contribute to the realisation of UAE long-term food security vision.
Al Dahra Kohinoor, a joint venture of Al Dahra Holding of Abu Dhabi and Kohinoor Foods of India, will produce up to 80,000 metric tonnes of rice per annum.
The facility will be handling the full production cycle from milling, storing, packing and distributing the rice within the UAE and exporting to foreign markets via Khalifa Port.
“Currently, we rely on imports for as much as 85% of the country’s food consumption. Abu Dhabi Ports is also trying to contribute to the UAE leadership’s long-term objective of achieving the maximum self-reliance in food production,” said Captain Mohamed Juma Al Shamisi, CEO of Abu Dhabi Ports.
“Our role at Abu Dhabi Ports is to support the food industry and businesses such as Al Dahra Kohinoor in their efforts to source food-produce locally. Our integrated infrastructure and connectivity offerings of Khalifa Port and Kizad provide both the availability to support food projects and the accessibility to have their products reach consumers both locally and abroad,” he d.