Al Otaiba takes indoor snow centres to India

The first phase of Mumbai's Snow World and Frozen World indoor snow centres will be ready by December and the Mohammed Al Otaiba Group plans to open similar centres in New Delhi and a few other Indian cities with a total investment of Dh185 million.

Meanwhile, the group is expanding in the leisure and entertainment sector in the region with indoor snow centres and aquariums, group chairman Mohammed Al Otaiba told Gulf News.
"The Indian economy is growing at a rapid and healthy pace, creating investment potential in many sectors. We have decided to invest in the leisure and entertainment sector which is a big market there," he said.

Spread over 9,000 square metres, the Snow World and Frozen World indoor snow centre in Mumbai will offer visitors ice rinks, snow boarding, skiing, a winter village and alpine food restaurants. "In terms of area this project is one of the biggest in Asia," Al Otaiba said. All the Indian projects will be privately funded.

Al Otaiba said the Snow World and Frozen World centre in Cairo will open this month. The project cost $15 million. The Jeddah project, similar to that in Cairo, is nearing completion and will open in mid-July. Another complex is planned for Bangkok.

The technology and concept are from Australia. The Mohammed Al Otaiba group owns a company on the Gold Coast and manages similar centres there.

The group manages a snow world centre in Dubai. "It is a small one started during the Dubai Shopping Festival. We plan to build a bigger one in Dubai which is likely to get approval shortly."