Several Indian firms like Tatas and Oberois have shown a keen interest in investing in Diriyah, a Saudi Arabian project of 63 billion dollars, according to news agency PTI. Diriyah is being built on the outskirts of Saudi Arabia's capital Riyadh and will become home to 1,00,000 people. It will also provide office space for a further 1,00,000 plus. The CEO of Saudi's Giga Project, Jerry Inzerillo said that Tatas and Oberois have signed up for Diriyah while over 3,000 Indian companies are already operating in the Kingdom, contributing to sectors such as construction, IT, energy, and telecommunications, strengthening the economic partnership between the two nations. Diriyah to expand India-Saudi relations Referring to India being Saudi Arabia's second-largest trading partner and Saudi Arabia being India's fourth-largest trading partner, he said Diriyah will play an important role in expanding the trade ties between the two countries. "Ultimately The City of Earth is going to contribute USD 18.6 billion to Saudi GDP and create 178,000 jobs," he said. On his engagements with Indian companies, Inzerillo said, “We are hosting at Diriyah groups of Indian business people, mostly CEOs. They are coming to see what opportunities are there in the Kingdom. There have been groups of 20-50 Indian CEOs that have come to explore potential opportunities." Masterplan and the challenges ahead This new city will include over 40 luxury hotels, more than 1,000 shops, over 150 restaurants and cafes, a university, arts and cultural assets, museums, an opera house, a 20,000-seater multipurpose event arena, a golf course and an international equestrian and polo centre, among other facilities. The 63.2 billion dollar real estate development and tourism project aims to restore the historic birthplace of the modern Saudi kingdom, including the UNESCO World Heritage Site of At-Turaif. Saudi Arabia's ambitious economic transformation plans, unveiled in 2016, have sometimes been met with some scepticism. Reuters reported earlier this year that the Public Investment Fund (PIF) aims to focus on investments with a higher chance of success after scaling back some projects, including NEOM's The Line – a zero-carbon city with robots and 170-kilometre-long mirrored facades.Original Article