The UAE plans to invest an additional $25 billion in India, as the two countries seek to expand cooperation in the energy sector amid ongoing tensions in West Asia. According to India’s Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal, discussions include strategic petroleum reserves, LPG and LNG supplies, as well as potential subsea gas pipeline projects.
Speaking after the 14th India-UAE Investment Task Force meeting in Mumbai, Goyal said the UAE has already invested $25 billion in India and has signaled plans to commit a further $25 billion in the near term. The two nations ultimately aim to raise total UAE investments in India to $100 billion.
“UAE being a trusted partner. We are working with them on building bridges for energy security. And to look at expanding strategic petroleum reserves in India, the studies are going on, and we’ll be seeing a significant ramp-up of investments from the UAE in this area,” Goyal said.
India is also considering the UAE as a larger supplier of LPG and LNG as part of efforts to strengthen its energy resilience and security. The two countries are studying the feasibility of subsea pipelines that could transport gas from the UAE to India and support domestic storage.
India and the UAE have doubled bilateral trade to $100 billion and are targeting $200 billion by 2032, Goyal noted. He added that the four-year-old Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) has strengthened economic ties, while local-currency settlements continue to grow and now account for a double-digit share of bilateral transactions.
He also highlighted the pace at which the two countries negotiated and concluded the agreement.
“UAE FTA set a new benchmark and a landmark in the world as the fastest ever negotiated free trade agreement. We had launched and concluded in less than 90 days.” According to Goyal, bilateral trade is also gradually returning to pre-war levels.
Goyal further affirmed that India is aiming to reach $1 trillion in exports of goods and services this year, following exports of $863 billion in the previous year. He added merchandise exports had increased by more than 15% during the first six months of the year.
As trade and investment ties deepen, India and the UAE are also seeking to expand cooperation in areas such as energy security, logistics, artificial intelligence, and other emerging technologies.
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