L&T-MHI consortium wins up to ₹5,000 crore Dubai airport APM order
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Larsen & Toubro (L&T), in a consortium with Japan’s Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI), has secured a large order worth ₹2,500 crore to ₹5,000 crore for the design and construction of an Automated People Mover (APM) system for Phase 1 of Al Maktoum International Airport in Dubai.
The order, awarded by Dubai Aviation City Corporation and being implemented through Dubai Aviation Engineering Projects, covers turnkey delivery of the airport’s APM system. The project forms part of the airport’s planned multi-phase expansion, under which Al Maktoum International is eventually expected to handle 260 million passengers and 12 million tonnes of freight annually.
L&T to handle core APM infrastructure
Under the Design-and-Build contract, L&T will undertake design, procurement, delivery and integration of critical APM infrastructure and systems. Its scope includes guideways, DC traction substations, power distribution, signalling and telecommunications, onboard vehicle communication systems, platform screen doors and depot equipment.
The consortium will also be responsible for construction, testing, commissioning and operational readiness of the integrated system, making the project a significant systems-integration assignment for L&T in the Gulf.
“With challenging execution milestones; advanced technologies; and multiple system interfaces, including guideway, power supply, state-of-the-art telecom, platform screen doors and depot equipment, this project exemplifies the scale and complexity of integrated APM rail systems that L&T is uniquely positioned to deliver,” Ramkumar S., executive vice president and head of transportation infrastructure, L&T, said.
MHI partnership adds APM systems expertise
Ramkumar said MHI’s expertise in APM systems, combined with L&T’s experience in integrated systems and engineering capabilities, would support execution with a focus on safety and quality.
The project will further expand L&T’s transportation infrastructure footprint in the Gulf, where governments are pursuing investments in urban transit and next-generation mobility infrastructure. The company expects the railway and transit development pipeline across the GCC and wider West Asia region to create additional opportunities.
Dubai airport expansion targets global scale
Notably, Al Maktoum International is being developed as a long-term aviation hub and, once fully completed, is planned to become the world’s largest airport by passenger and cargo capacity. Its targeted annual throughput of 260 million passengers and 12 million tonnes of freight underlines the scale of the infrastructure programme.
L&T has capabilities across turnkey design-build and EPC execution for railway and metro systems, covering design, engineering, procurement, project planning, quality control and construction. It is currently executing integrated rail systems projects for Mumbai Metro, Dhaka Metro and Jakarta MRT.