What Is Ras Malé? The Maldives' New City, Explained

Ras Malé (often written Rasmalé or Rasmale') is the largest land reclamation project the Maldives has attempted. The government is turning a shallow lagoon south of Malé into a new city, mainly to ease the housing shortage in the capital region. This guide sets out what is actually known about it: where it is, how big it is, how far the work has got, and the questions that are still open. Every figure has a date and a source, listed at the end.

Where is Ras Malé?

Ras Malé is being built in Fushidhiggaru lagoon (Fushidhiggaru Falhu), south of Malé in South Malé Atoll, near the island of Gulhi. Like Malé, it falls within Kaafu Atoll. When the project was launched, the lagoon was described as about a 17-minute speedboat ride from the capital. Our guide Where is Ras Malé? covers the location in more detail. It sits in the Greater Malé region alongside Hulhumalé, Villimalé, Thilafushi and Gulhifalhu, and the government presents it as the next stage of that region's growth.

The lagoon itself covers about 1,153 hectares. Not all of it will become land: the government's current plan is to reclaim 1,009 hectares, divided into 12 work sites labelled A to L. You may still see 1,150 hectares quoted for the city, which was the figure used at the launch.

How big will it be?

At 1,009 hectares, Ras Malé would be roughly three times the size of both phases of Hulhumalé put together, a comparison the President has used since the launch. That scale is why the project matters: Malé is one of the most crowded capitals in the world, and the government's housing plans for the region depend on new land.

Because the Maldives is so low-lying, the new land is being raised above sea level. At the launch, the President's plan was for the city to stand 2 metres above sea level at its edges and 3 metres at its centre. A 2025 report on the current reclamation contract gives a height of 2.5 metres for the reclaimed land. The finished ground levels will be set in the detailed city plans, which haven't been published yet.

How far has the work got?

Progress has been uneven, with several changes of contractor. Here is the timeline from published sources:

• 18 December 2023: President Mohamed Muizzu inaugurated the project. The first contractor was Sri Lanka's Capital Marine and Civil Construction (CMC), with a budget of MVR 1.4 billion over three years.
• May 2024: The government cancelled the CMC contract after the work stalled. CMC had reclaimed 29 hectares at Site J, and the Housing Development Corporation (HDC) later agreed to pay USD 21 million for that work.
• July 2024: China Railway Construction Corporation (CRCC) was given a USD 265.5 million contract to reclaim 352 hectares across five sites within 18 months. In July 2025, HDC ended that agreement because the work had not progressed as the contract required.
• August 2025: China Harbour Engineering Company started work using a dredger that carries 21,000 cubic metres of sand, about twice the capacity of the dredgers used before. At that point 129.6 hectares had been reclaimed.
• November 2025: The President's Office reported Site J complete, Site L at 25.53% and Site C at 20.09%, with more dredgers arriving.
• December 2025: Maldives Airports Company Limited (MACL) began work at Site A with the Cristóbal Colón, a Jan De Nul dredger that can carry 46,000 cubic metres of sand. MACL reported 41 hectares reclaimed there within the month.
• 31 March 2026: The President said nearly 500 hectares had been reclaimed, with work under way on 11 sites.
• June 2026: The President said about 60% of the reclamation was complete, and that the work had slowed because of rising fuel costs linked to the conflict in the Middle East. He said the original completion date would be missed, but that the reclamation would be finished within 2026.
• September 2026: The President said about 70% had been reclaimed, and that the whole area should be finished by the end of 2026. Our Ras Malé timeline covers every deadline in detail.

Figures from different sources don't always line up, partly because some count the whole lagoon and others count only the land to be reclaimed. Our Ras Malé progress tracker shows the latest official figure, site by site, with its date and source.

What will be built there?

Reclamation only creates the land. What goes on it is still being planned, but these parts have been announced:

Homes

Housing is the main reason for the project. HDC's long-term target is 65,000 homes in Ras Malé. The first concrete step is the government's Housing for All scheme, which offers 15,000 land plots of 1,250 square feet each across Greater Malé and Ras Malé, plus 7,900 flats in Hulhumalé. Applications closed in June 2026. The Housing Ministry reported 58,505 applications in total, of which 22,575 were for land plots.

Plots were offered to registered Malé residents and to people from other islands who have lived in the capital for at least 15 years. Plots for people who live in Malé but aren't registered there come from Ras Malé. Handovers depend on the land being finished, and we haven't found a published handover date yet.

A waterfront and marina district

On 21 September 2026, the Abu Dhabi developer Eagle Hills signed a commercial terms agreement with the government for a waterfront and marina development in Ras Malé. Reports put its value at about USD 12 billion across all phases, and the President has said about 500 hectares of Ras Malé will be leased for it. The plans include hotels, branded homes, a marina, shops, restaurants, schools and healthcare. Homes would be sold on leases of up to 99 years under Maldivian law. Eagle Hills says it won't do any more dredging and will build on land that has already been reclaimed. No construction timeline or phasing has been published, and the detailed terms are still being negotiated. Our Invest & Buy section follows what this means for buyers.

An eco-city plan

At the launch, the government described Ras Malé as an eco-city: run on renewable energy, with electric and battery-powered transport, and with an airstrip on reclaimed land linked to the city by a bridge. These are stated aims, not finished designs. We'll report on each one as detailed plans and contracts are published.

Open questions

Ras Malé is a big public project, and several things are still unclear or disputed. These are the ones we're following:

• Cost and contracts. Two contractors have left the project, and the settlements with CMC and CRCC have been questioned in local reporting. In August 2026, Atoll Times reported that HDC's board had accepted CRCC's USD 9.4 million claim for completed work, more than the USD 6.7 million valuation HDC itself had commissioned.
• The environment. Dredging on this scale changes the lagoon permanently. The Environmental Regulation Authority has received complaints about dredging outside permitted areas and work during sand alerts. It has warned of legal action, without naming anyone.
• The final city plan. The master plan, ground levels, transport links to Malé and Hulhumalé, and the timetable for building homes haven't been published in full.
• The Eagle Hills deal. Only the main commercial terms have been signed. The detailed terms, phasing and financing are still to be agreed. The government says the state will earn revenue from every sale, without tax giveaways or government borrowing.

We'll update this guide as each of these moves forward.

Can you visit Ras Malé?

Not yet. Ras Malé is an active reclamation site, and we haven't found any published visitor facilities or public transport to the new land. When that changes, our Explore Nearby section will cover how to get there.

How we keep this guide accurate

We are an independent guide, not connected to the government, HDC or any developer. Figures in this guide come from the President's Office, government agencies and established news outlets, and each one is listed in the sources below. When sources disagree, we say so rather than picking the most impressive number. If you spot something out of date, please tell us.