Perak breaks ground on 287-acre Kerian Industrial City

The Perak State Development Corporation (PKNP) broke ground on 22 October 2026 on Kerian Industrial City (KIC), a 287-acre industrial and mixed development at Dennistown, Mukim Parit Buntar, in Perak's Kerian district. The project has a gross development value of about RM700 million and is expected to create nearly 12,000 jobs. Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Saarani Mohamad officiated.

PKNP owns the land. The developer is Bumi Johan Sdn Bhd, a subsidiary of Asiabina Group, whose managing director, Datuk Yong Chai Seng, attended the ceremony.

The project

• Site: 287 acres (about 116 hectares) at Dennistown, near Parit Buntar
• Status: land acquisition completed and planning permission obtained
• Layout: 36 semi-detached factories, 47 industrial lots, centralised worker quarters for 3,000 people, 553 homes and a commercial component
• Timing: four phases over 10 years; Phase 1 is due within three years
• Target industries: semiconductors and electrical and electronics (E&E), plus support services such as testing, calibration and engineering
• Nearby training: about 6 km from Universiti Sains Malaysia's Engineering Campus in Nibong Tebal, 9.3 km from the Perda Higher Skills Institute and 15.6 km from Kerian Vocational College

The numbers

• Value per acre: RM700 million over 287 acres is about RM2.4 million an acre, or about RM56 per sq ft of land. That is a development value covering the factories and homes as well as the land, not a land price
• Jobs: 12,000 jobs on 287 acres is about 42 jobs an acre

Power and roads

• New substation: Saarani said KIC and the neighbouring Kerian Integrated Green Industrial Park (KIGIP) need a stable power supply, including a new main intake substation. He welcomed talks between SD Guthrie, Tenaga Nasional Bhd and InvestPerak on the substation and its route through the KIGIP area
• New road: the Public Works Department (JKR) is planning a road from the Bandar Baharu toll exit straight to KIGIP, which would also improve access to KIC. Its alignment and timing are still under review

The bigger park next door

KIGIP is SD Guthrie's much larger park in the same district, about 404.6 hectares (1,000 acres), managed by Permodalan Nasional Bhd through SD Guthrie. Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim broke ground on 30 August 2024 at Simpang Lima, Bagan Serai. Part of the site is swampy and has to be reclaimed, with Gamuda Bhd brought in to help; Perak wants KIGIP completed by the end of 2028 and open to investors in 2029. KIC, at 287 acres, is about 29% of KIGIP's size. The state says the two parks will complement each other.

Why it matters for Penang

Saarani pitched Kerian's position next to Penang's Batu Kawan industrial area and Kedah's Kulim Hi-Tech Park, and said Perak should treat Penang and Kedah as partners rather than competitors. On the Penang side of the border, PDC is preparing its own next big industrial zone at Byram, where it has just settled the land compensation with SD Guthrie.

PKNP also owns 52.9% of Bursa-listed Perak Corp Bhd.

Cover photo: Perak Menteri Besar's Office, via Sinar Harian.