When Will Ras Malé Be Finished? Timeline, Deadlines and Progress

The short answer: the government says the land for Ras Malé will be reclaimed by the end of 2026, but the city itself will take years longer. Reclamation only creates the ground. Roads, power, water and sewerage come next, then homes, schools and shops, and the government's own estimate for the wider development is about 10 years. This guide sets out every published deadline, what actually happened, and what to watch next. For an overview of the project, see What is Ras Malé?

Where things stand

In a television interview reported on 26 September 2026, President Mohamed Muizzu said that about 70% of Ras Malé had been reclaimed, and that the whole area should be finished by the end of the year. He described the finished area as about 1,100 hectares. He also said that work to start electricity, water, sewerage and roads was under way, with the aim of beginning before the year was out.

Our progress tracker shows the latest official figures site by site, with the date and source of each one.

Every deadline so far

Ras Malé has had several target dates. Here they are side by side, with what happened to each:

• December 2023: The project was launched as one of the new government's first 100-day pledges, with Sri Lankan firm CMC as contractor. The CMC contract was cancelled in May 2024 after the work stalled, with 29 hectares reclaimed at Site J.
• July 2024: China Railway Construction Corporation (CRCC) signed a contract to reclaim 352 hectares across five sites within 18 months. HDC ended the contract in July 2025 because the work hadn't progressed as required.
• November 2025: The government said reclamation would finish in March or April 2026, once large dredgers arrived in December. About 183 hectares had been reclaimed by then.
• December 2025: Maldives Airports Company Limited (MACL) started work at Site A with the Belgian-operated dredger Cristóbal Colón, aiming to finish the reclamation by early 2026.
• June 2026: The President said about 60% was done. 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 the reclamation would be finished within 2026.
• September 2026: About 70% done, with completion expected by the end of 2026.

So the land has taken far longer than first promised, mainly because two contractors left the project and the work had to restart with new companies and bigger dredgers.

How the reclamation has progressed

Published figures show how the pace changed once bigger dredgers arrived:

• 2024: 29 hectares reclaimed by CMC at Site J before its contract was cancelled.
• August 2025: 129.6 hectares. China Harbour Engineering Company began work with a dredger carrying 21,000 cubic metres of sand, twice the capacity of the earlier ones.
• November 2025: About 183 hectares. Site J was complete, Site L was at 25.53% and Site C at 20.09%.
• February 2026: MACL reported Site A at 84.36%, with 116 of its 137.5 hectares reclaimed in about ten weeks.
• March 2026: Nearly 500 hectares, with work under way on 11 sites.
• June 2026: About 60%.
• September 2026: About 70%.

The percentages are the government's own, and published figures haven't always used the same base. Some count the whole 1,153-hectare lagoon, while others count only the roughly 1,009 to 1,100 hectares to be reclaimed. We haven't found an independent survey of the reclaimed area.

What happens after reclamation

Dredging is the first of several stages. These are the next ones, and what's been published about each:

1. Coastal protection and settling

The official name of the work is the Rasmalé Land Reclamation and Coastal Protection Project. Newly pumped sand has to be shaped, protected from waves and left to settle before heavy building can start. No public timetable for this stage has been published.

2. Utilities and roads

In January 2024, the government signed an agreement with China Machinery Engineering Group for water and electricity in Ras Malé and Gulhifalhu. In September 2026, the President said work on electricity, water, sewerage and roads was being lined up to start before the end of the year.

3. A master plan and transport links

The land is to be developed in 12 zones under a phased plan. In December 2025, the Ministry of Finance and Planning invited consultants to prepare a transport master plan for Ras Malé. It is meant to cover links with Malé and transport within the new city, and to compare land, sea and air options. Earlier government statements mentioned a bridge and a high-speed ferry. A full master plan showing where housing, roads, schools and parks will go hasn't been published yet.

4. Homes and the waterfront district

Housing plots can only be handed over once the land has basic services, and no handover date has been set. Our housing guide covers the plot scheme in detail. Separately, about 500 hectares are to be leased to Eagle Hills for a waterfront and marina district, and no construction timetable has been published for that either.

For the detail behind each stage, see Ras Malé site by site, the dredgers building Ras Malé and who has built Ras Malé so far. In September 2026, the President also said MTCC had secured a much larger dredger, due before the end of the year.

How long will the whole city take?

In September 2026, the government said the wider Ras Malé development was expected to take about 10 years. Earlier, the 65,000-home target was described as a 20-year goal. Either way, Ras Malé will be built up in stages over the next decade or more. Some areas should be lived in long before the city is finished.

What could cause more delays

• Costs and fuel. Dredging uses a great deal of fuel, and the 2026 slowdown was blamed on fuel prices.
• Contractors. Two contractors have already left, and disputes over payments for their work continued into 2026.
• The environment. In early 2026, satellite images showed sediment plumes from dredging for Ras Malé and Hulhumalé spreading across large parts of South Malé Atoll. Dive operators and bait fishermen complained about the effects, and fishermen asked the regulator to stop sand being taken from key bait-fishing grounds. Pressure to change how and where dredging is done could affect the schedule.
• Planning decisions. The master plan, the transport plan and the Eagle Hills details all have to be settled before large-scale building can begin.

How to follow progress

We update the Ras Malé progress tracker whenever a new official figure is published, and note the date and source each time. Sign up for our monthly update to get the latest figures by email.