Under the agreement signed with Emaar, one of Dubai''s biggest property companies, Multiplex will invest up to $3 billion to take up construction works in Southern India including cities like Kochi, Goa and Hyderabad.

Leighton Holdings have announced $1.5 billion worth of deals with Emaar largely in northern India.

Graeme Robson, Multiplex''s Dubai-based managing director for the Middle East and Britain signed the eight-year agreement with Emaar in which the construction projects will be rolled out in phases, The Australian reported.

The company has completed or is building around 12 projects worth about $600 million in the sub-continent.

Leighton''s agreement with Emaar is initially for five years with involvement in up to 100 projects. The company is also eying India''s mining sector which is still evolving.

About 25 per cent of Leighton''s $20 billion work in hand is in north or southeast Asia, India and the Middle East.

Multiplex said it would build a ritzy 80-storey hotel in Dubai for Emirates Airlines at a cost of $715 million. Emirates Park Towers Hotel, expected to be a six-star facility, will add to Multiplex''s $3.38 billion pipeline in the region.

In Dubai, the builder''s banners hang from around a dozen construction sites, including some in the new financial hub, a 44.5ha site where western-based financial regulations apply. Multiplex''s Middle East contracts are conducted through the jointly owned NASA Multiplex.

Meanwhile, Canada-based Brookfield Asset Management has made a friendly $4.3 billion bid for Multiplex.. The Australian had earlier reported Brookfield managing partner Sam Pollock as saying that the Toronto-based group was also looking to expand into China, Japan and India.