Qatar commits to investing $10 bln in India

Qatar has pledged to invest $10 billion in India across various sectors, the two nations announced in a joint statement on Tuesday following a visit by Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani to New Delhi.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said he held a “very productive meeting” with the Qatari Emir during the two-day visit, the first by a Qatari leader to India in a decade.

“Trade featured prominently in our talks. We want to increase and diversify India-Qatar trade linkages,” Modi wrote on X.

Qatar’s $10 billion investment will target infrastructure, technology, manufacturing, food security, logistics, hospitality, and other sectors, according to the joint statement.

The two nations also aim to double their annual trade volume to $28 billion over the next five years and are exploring the possibility of a free trade agreement, India’s foreign ministry said earlier.

Bilateral trade between the two countries stood at $18.77 billion for the fiscal year ending in March 2023, driven largely by India’s liquefied natural gas (LNG) imports from Qatar. Qatar supplied over 48% of India’s LNG imports that year.

Both sides agreed to deepen bilateral energy cooperation through mutual investments in energy infrastructure. They also discussed the possibility of settling bilateral trade in their respective currencies.