Muscat – The Ministry of Housing and Urban Planning (MoHUP) has signed 13 usufruct agreements for several projects in four sectors in various governorates with private sector firms and individuals.

Of these, seven worth RO1mn are in industrial, agricultural and commercial sectors, and for fuel and service stations, located in North Batinah, North Sharqiyah, Dhahirah, Dakhliyah and Al Wusta. H E Hamad bin Ali Al Nazwani, Undersecretary for Housing in MoHUP, signed the agreements at the ministry’s headquarters on Thursday.

The agreements are a translation of the ministry’s objectives of the Usufruct Right Programme, which allows developers and investors to benefit from government land for projects with economic and social objectives linked to development goals.

These objectives centre around supporting stimulus programmes for the economic sector, completing governorate development programmes, and providing service and commercial activities in line with the policies of the National Urban Development Strategy 2040. These are in addition to achieving sustainability, maximising financial returns from the real estate sector, providing enablers for economic sectors, and creating the appropriate environment for investment.

Industrial sector
The contracts include one for construction of a water desalination plant in the wilayat of Ibri, Dhahirah at a cost of RO100,000, a factory for filling gas cylinders in Bahla, Dakhliyah, at a cost of RO75,000, and an integrated workshop for maintenance of oil field equipment in Thumrait, Dhofar, at a cost of RO250,000.

Agricultural sector
In the agriculture sector, an agreement was signed for a shou’ (Moringa Paregrina) plantation project in Mudhaibi, North Sharqiyah, at a cost of RO150,000, and a grapes and figs production and marketing project in Mudhaibi, worth RO120,000. The wilayat will have another grapes and figs production project worth RO15,000.

Filling station and service station
The agreements include one for construction of a fuel and service station in Mahout, Al Wusta, at a cost of RO100,000.

Commercial sector
Six agreements were signed for plots of land that were offered two weeks earlier via a digital bidding system in the wilayat of Liwa, North Batinah. Bidding for the land was done through the MoHUP’s Tatwir platform, which gives all an equal opportunity to bid.

Integrated service stations
Bids are also invited for usufruct contracts for six plots of land to build integrated service stations in various governorates along the Al Batinah Expressway and the Nizwa-Thumrait-Salalah road. ‘These facilities will provide basic services to road users and activate economic activity between the governorates.’

The integrated service stations, spread over 30,000sqm each, will be built in the wilayats of Barka, Saham, Liwa and Haima. These will include an air-conditioned main building, restaurants, a variety of shops, motel, park, prayer halls, ATMs, vehicle service and maintenance centre, and parking for cars, buses and trucks.