Developer of Dubai’s Taj Mahal in talks with hotel operators

Link Global, the developer of Taj Mahal’s clone in Dubai is in talks with hotel operators, a local news website reported Wednesday.

“They are all international… one of them is not yet here [in the UAE] but is quite big,” director of Taj Arabia’s developer, Arun Mehra, said.

Mehra said his Dubai-based developer company has already been inundated with requests from jewelry and retailers wanting to rent retail space in the development.

Taj Arabia, expected to be four times bigger in size than the original Taj Mahal in India, is planned to be a $1 billion five-star hotel with 300 rooms.

News of the Dubai developer building a replica of Taj Mahal angered some Indian officials.

Rakesh Sharma, President of the All India Brahmin Mahasabha, told India’s IANS news agency that the proposed Taj Arabia is “a caricature of the original.”

“From where will they bring the romantic tales, the river Yamuna and the ambience of Agra?" Sharma asked.

But for Mehra, there will be romance in Taj Arabia. “Around the Taj we have wedding and romance as a theme … The gold and jewelry business in Dubai is multiplying every year so it will be jewelry retailers. We’ve had a huge response from the big players in jewelry wanting the prime spots.”

Taj Arabia is part of the $36 billion Falconcity of Wonders development in Dubai which also includes a proposed 11-storey high pyramid to house offices and a museum.