Bharat Mart: Powering India's Global Commerce

Bharat Mart, a flagship initiative connecting Indian businesses to global markets, is a state-of-the-art B2B and B2C marketplace in Dubai. It exclusively showcases Indian products and businesses. Strategically located in Jebel Ali Free Zone (JAFZA), it features 1,500 showrooms, over 700,000 sq. ft. of warehousing, office spaces, and dedicated zones for women-led businesses.

Recognising its strategic importance, Indusfood 2026 will host an exclusive Focus Market Briefing on Bharat Mart during its 9th edition. The session will provide exporters with practical insights into how Bharat Mart can be leveraged as a global distribution and showroom hub—covering market access models, regulatory and tax advantages, logistics efficiencies, sector-wise opportunities, and pathways for Indian MSMEs to scale exports across the Middle East, Africa, and Europe.

India is steadily strengthening its footprint on the global trade map, with Bharat Mart emerging as a flagship initiative to showcase Indian enterprise to the world. Conceptualised as India's answer to China's Dragon Mart, Bharat Mart is designed as a dedicated marketplace exclusively for Indian products and businesses.

Located in Dubai, Bharat Mart is a large-scale B2B and B2C trading ecosystem that connects Indian manufacturers, exporters, and traders directly with international buyers. It is envisioned as a future-ready platform that integrates trade, logistics, warehousing, and showroom infrastructure—enabling Indian businesses to access global markets efficiently from a single hub.

Bharat Mart is being developed under the aegis of DP World, through its flagship free zone Jebel Ali Free Zone (JAFZA), in close coordination with Indian authorities. The project reflects a strategic alignment between India and the UAE to deepen bilateral trade and create long-term export infrastructure for Indian enterprises, particularly MSMEs.

The initiative received top-level political backing when Narendra Modi, Prime Minister of India, and Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, laid the foundation stone of Bharat Mart on 14 February 2024 at JAFZA.

Indusfood 2026 will organise an exclusive Focus Market Briefing on Bharat Mart at its 9th edition on January 9, 2026. The session will provide exporters with practical insights into how Bharat Mart can be leveraged as a global distribution and showroom hub.

Bharat Mart is designed to simplify cross-border trade through a local and free-zone hybrid model, allowing businesses to serve both onshore UAE markets and international destinations from one base. With a state-of-the-art mega distribution centre combining showrooms and warehouses, the platform connects Indian businesses to nearly 3.5 billion consumers across Europe, Africa, and the Middle East.

The marketplace offers a tax-efficient and risk-mitigated operating framework, with duty and VAT applicable only on local sales, while imports and re-exports benefit from streamlined customs processes. This significantly lowers logistics costs and improves delivery timelines for Indian exporters.

Amitesh Mishra, Director – Business Development, DP World GCC, comments, "Bharat Mart is India's first platform abroad to showcase India's products to the world. From Indian kitchens to global markets, Bharat Mart will connect Indian F&B exporters to buyers worldwide – faster, closer and at scale."

Bharat Mart provides several structural advantages:

• Unified operations: Warehousing, showrooms, offices, and business services housed in one location
• Seamless market access: Authorisation to trade in both free-zone and onshore markets
• Lower logistics costs: Faster delivery across Europe, Africa, and the Middle East
• Powerful ecosystem access: Integration with over 9,000 companies operating within JAFZA
• Global footfall advantage: Proximity to Expo City and Dubai's ~15 million annual visitors
• Unmatched connectivity: Air, sea, road, and rail access within a 10–15 minute radius

With over 2,300 Indian companies already operating in JAFZA and non-oil bilateral trade expanding rapidly, Bharat Mart is expected to play a pivotal role in achieving the US$ 100 billion India-UAE non-oil trade target by 2030.

The facility will feature 1,500 showrooms and over 700,000 sq. ft. of warehousing, light industrial units, offices, and meeting spaces, including dedicated zones for women-led Indian enterprises. Key focus sectors include textiles, garments, electronics, pharmaceuticals, food grains, and consumer goods.

Scheduled to open by end-2026, Bharat Mart positions India not just as a supplier—but as a globally organised trading force with a permanent gateway into international markets.

The Focus Market Briefing session on Bharat Mart is scheduled for 1000-1045 hrs on January 9, 2026 at Innovation Stage, Hall 11, IEML Greater Noida. For more details, click https://shorturl.at/YYOFc

Indusfood 2026 is open to trade visitors. To register your entry, click https://shorturl.at/J8ZOb