RITES Ltd is pressing ahead with its expansion plans in West Asia, expressing confidence that ongoing geopolitical tensions will have only a temporary impact on long-term infrastructure opportunities in the region.
The state-owned engineering and consultancy firm has established an office in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and has already begun securing projects, according to Chairman and Managing Director Rahul Mithal.
“We have identified a large number of opportunities across the Middle East and have already started getting a few orders,” Mithal said. He added that while the ongoing conflict in West Asia remains a concern, the company expects infrastructure consultancy opportunities in the region to remain strong over the long term.
RITES has been strengthening its presence in the region through strategic partnerships with major infrastructure and logistics companies. In 2024, the company signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with UAE’s Etihad Rail to collaborate on railway and related infrastructure projects across the UAE and the wider region.
The partnership is now expected to extend beyond West Asia, with RITES exploring opportunities alongside Etihad Rail in Africa, a market where the Indian public sector enterprise already has a significant presence.
“We are working on exploring various opportunities with Etihad Rail not only in the Middle East but also in Africa, where the company is looking to expand. We see ourselves as a close consulting partner,” Mithal said.
Beyond railways, RITES is also looking to expand its footprint in logistics and port infrastructure through collaborations with UAE-based DP World and Abu Dhabi’s AD Ports. Mithal said these partnerships are expected to translate into additional business opportunities across the region.
“We are looking forward to securing more orders not only in the rail sector but also in logistics and ports,” he said.
RITES is also playing a significant role in the proposed India–Middle East–Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC), a strategic trade and connectivity initiative announced during the G20 Leaders’ Summit in 2023.
As part of the project, RITES, in partnership with the Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC), has developed the Master Application for International Trade & Regulatory Interface (MAITRI), a digital platform designed to create a virtual trade corridor by connecting customs and port authorities and streamlining cross-border trade processes.
The MAITRI-powered virtual trade corridor was operationalised on May 15 during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the UAE, underscoring the growing strategic cooperation between India and the UAE in advancing the IMEC initiative.
Despite renewed tensions involving Iran, the US and its Gulf allies following the collapse of a recent understanding aimed at ending hostilities, RITES remains optimistic that the region’s infrastructure development agenda will continue to generate business opportunities in the years ahead.
