Qatar to invest $10bn in India and launch free trade talks

Arvind Yadav/Hindustan Times/Sipa USA via Reuters Connect

• Bilateral trade target of $28bn by 2030
• Wealth fund QIA to set up India office
• India also in free trade talks with GCC

Qatar has agreed to invest $10 billion in India as trade ties between the two deepen.

The countries have committed to double the level of imports and exports to $28 billion in the next five years and to establish a free trade agreement.

A joint statement said Qatar would explore investment opportunities in sectors including infrastructure, technology, manufacturing, food security, logistics and hospitality.  

Its sovereign wealth fund, the Qatar Investment Authority, will open an office in India. 

The announcements follow Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani’s two-day visit to India, during which he held talks with Narendra Modi, India’s prime minister.

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“We want to increase and diversify India-Qatar trade linkages. Our nations can also work closely in sectors like energy, technology, healthcare, food processing, pharma and green hydrogen,” Modi posted on social media.  

Officials from both sides will open discussions on a comprehensive economic partnership agreement (Cepa), seeking to diversify trade and encourage commercial ties.

Arun Kumar Chatterjee, secretary of India’s ministry of external affairs, said India was also negotiating a Cepa with the GCC bloc as a whole.

The Qatar-India statement said the two have also revised their double taxation avoidance agreement.