MUMBAI: Malaysian companies, backed by the country’s government, are keen to get a slice of India’s infrastructure play and have identified companies such as GMR Infrastructure and MEP Infrastructure to partner with.On Monday, companies from India and Malaysia signed pacts for deals worth $36 billion, of which $32.13 billion worth of projects will be implemented in Malaysia while $3.86 billion worth of projects will be executed in India. Top executives from Indian companies said that their Malaysian counterparts are keen to explore the country’s infrastructure sector.Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak is in India on the invitation of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to take forward the bilateral trade and relations between the two nations. PM Modi had visited Malaysia in November 2015.Commerce and industry minister Nirmala Sitharaman said Malaysia’s expertise in infrastructure development and India’s ambition of $1trillion investment in infrastructure would offer huge business potential to both the countries out of this economic engagement. She was speaking at the India-Malaysia Business Forum organised by industry bodies Ficci, CII and Assocham in the capital on Monday.GMR Energy and Malaysia’s TNB Repair and Maintenance Sdn Bhd signed a pact to set up a joint venture for refurbishment and maintenance of power plants in India.“The key objective behind signing the memorandum of understanding is to optimise the operations of the Indian power plants in a bid to enhance availability, output, and efficiency of power plants along with power plant life. The partnership with TNB Remaco signifies the GMR Group’s commitment towards a holistic improvement of the power plants in India. It also shows that global investors are reposing their faith in the long term growth of the Indian power sector,” said GM Rao, group chairman, GMR Group.Road developer MEP Infrastructure Developers also signed a pact with CIDB Holdings, a fully-owned subsidiary of Malaysia’s Construction Industry Development Board, for joint development of sustainable highways and expressways projects and related investments in India.“This is a proud moment for us and this milestone agreement will enable the integration of MEP expertise in Indian road infrastructure space with CIDB’s best practices and standards in construction sector,” said Jayant Mhaiskar, vice chairman and managing director, MEP Infrastructure Developers.Billionaire Gautam Adani-led Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone (APSEZ) said that it is looking to expand in the international market and has, therefore, entered into an agreement with MMC Ports to set up a container port in Carey Island in Malaysia.“Malaysia is very strategic to APSEZ’s global strategy and with the Strait of Malacca being a global shipping route, it helps us drive our global transshipment strategy further. With Vizhinjam port on one side, Carey Island port on the other, we will be able to give transshipment solutions to global shipping lines,” said Karan Adani, CEO, APSEZ.