UAE signals further $25 billion investment in India
The United Arab Emirates has indicated it intends to invest another $25 billion in India, Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal said after talks with UAE officials. The countries also agreed to expand cooperation in ports, shipbuilding, energy, space technology, financial services and trade facilitation, while seeking to double bilateral trade by 2032.
The United Arab Emirates has indicated an intention to invest an additional $25 billion in India in the near future, Union Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said on Monday after a bilateral investment meeting in Mumbai. Goyal made the announcement after co-chairing the 14th India-UAE High-Level Joint Task Force on Investments with Sheikh Hamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, managing director of the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority. He said the UAE had already invested about $25 billion in India and had a longer-term objective of reaching $100 billion.
The meeting covered investment, trade facilitation, taxation, logistics, energy, market access and financial cooperation. The two sides also discussed using local currencies for bilateral trade and using the task force to address problems faced by investors and issues arising from implementation of the India-UAE Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement. A new bilateral working group will examine six areas of maritime cooperation: ship ownership, modern port development, ship manufacturing, repair and maintenance, ship breaking and container manufacturing.
Goyal said UAE investors were considering ports, shipbuilding, space technology, startups and India’s stock markets. He identified the upcoming Vadhavan port in Maharashtra and projects on India’s eastern and western coasts as possible areas for investment. Goyal said India’s port capacity had doubled over the past decade and would need to double again during the next 10 years as the economy expanded.
Energy security was another major focus. Goyal said India and the UAE were studying expansion of strategic petroleum reserves, while India was also examining increased supplies of liquefied natural gas and other gases from the UAE. A separate study is assessing the feasibility of subsea pipelines to transport gas to India.
The countries are targeting bilateral trade of $200 billion by 2032, after trade reached about $100 billion. Goyal cited recent UAE-linked investments, including Emirates NBD’s roughly $2.75 billion acquisition of a majority stake in RBL Bank and International Holding Company’s proposed $1 billion investment for a controlling stake in Sammaan Capital.
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