India Awaits Major Surge in Investments from the GCC

The Indian Ambassador to Qatar, Deepa Gopalan Wadhwa told the 12th Industrialists’ Conference, organised by the Gulf Organisation for Industrial Consulting that her country was expecting a surge in investments from the GCC bloc in view of the potential investment opportunities available today. She informed this while delivering the keynote address at the event on behalf of India’s Minister of Commerce and Industry Anand Sharma.

Wadhwa stated that India’s trade and investments in the Gulf bloc were set to rise sharply as the fast economic growth had boosted energy demand in the country. She said India offered a “secure and predictable” market for oil and gas from the GCC, but should not be confined to these sectors alone.

It has been observed that India’s geographical proximity and historical trade links make the country a prospective parking place for the Gulf bloc’s investments, and guaranteed higher returns. India’s total trade with the six-member bloc increased from $19.58bn in 2005-2006 to $86.9bn in 2008-09, and is well ahead of the EU’s $80.6bn and the ASEAN’s $44.6bn.

Despite having extended and strong ties with the GCC, India just has been able to attract investments from the UAE. The cumulative investments from the UAE were just over $1bn during April-July this year, but the two-way trade between both countries stood at $44.5bn in 2008-09.

Although GCC is the largest trading bloc, the investments to India from the region did not keep pace with the growth. Currently GCC member states’ share is less than 1 percent of the FDI in India.

According to a recent United Conference for Trade and Development study, India’s FDI inflows jumped 85 percent in 2008 against a 14.5 percent decline in overall global FDI inflows. With the likely conclusion of FTA between India and the GCC by next year the country is expecting investments to pour in from the region.

By Jose Roy