Falling oil prices aren’t holding back the sultanate, which is pushing ahead with infrastructure projects in an ambitious move to diversify its economy.
Phase One of the ambitious Madinat Al Irfan project has seen the OCEC exhibition halls opened and work under way on the convention centre, JW Marriott and Crowne Plaza hotels, and Omantel head office.
Work in the 300-key four-star Crowne Plaza Hotel is nearly 90 per cent complete. Being implemented under Package Seven by Larsen and Toubro (Oman), it is expected to be completed by mid-2017. The main hotel building consists of two basements, a ground floor and five storeys.
The 300-key, five-star JW Marriott located adjacent to the east boundary of the convention centre is under construction under Package Four. It includes east and west wings, a central ‘drum’, wellness wing, and a car park zone.
Jindal Shadeed Iron and Steel (JSIS), part of Indian steel giant Jindal Steel and Power, last year commissioned the largest rebar mill in the Gulf and African region, significantly boosting Oman’s domestic production capacity and reducing dependence on imports for its construction sector. The state-of-the-art 1.
