Envoy lauds significant Qatari FDI into major Indian firms

Qatar-India ties in the areas of trade, investments, and energy have been witnessing robust growth, according to Indian ambassador Vipul.
Speaking to Gulf Times recently, Vipul said trade between the two countries stood at $18bn last year, while in the last five to six months, Qatar committed “substantial investments” in two large Indian companies, Reliance Retail and Adani Green Energy, as well as other companies.
“Majority of Qatar-India trade comprises Qatari LNG exports, but India’s exports to Qatar have also increased during that period. I'm quite sure that we will continue to do very well on the trade front.
“But connected to it, I would like to mention is also the investments. So, our trade and investment ties, as well as our energy ties, are very important and have continued to move forward, which is why my outlook for both countries is very positive,” he said.
Vipul recently inaugurated the grand ‘India Utsav’ organised by LuLu Group, where he lauded the global retailer for its “vital” role in Qatar-India trade relations. He said not only is LuLu Hypermarket catering to Qatar’s burgeoning Indian expatriate population, but also to South Asians, Arabs, and Qataris.
“I’m very happy that with the presence of LuLu, it plays a very important role in that dimension of promoting the food products, but also other lifestyle products of India in Qatar,” he stressed.
Vipul also said there are “tremendous opportunities” in terms of further co-operation in the Information Technology (IT) sector, as well as in emerging technologies, whether it be artificial intelligence (AI), blockchain, or all other technologies.
“Indian IT companies are already doing work in Qatar. They are associated with a lot many organisations in the country. And I’m sure we can continue partnering with Qatar as we go forward.
“And we must do that because we’ve seen that in the ‘Third National Development Strategy’ (NDS3) 2024-2030 that Qatar recently announced, they place a lot of importance on innovation, on startups, and moving ahead with technology,” the ambassador pointed out.
Vipul added: “India has the human resource and India has those companies with which those partnerships can be built, so I’m sure that this will continue to happen. And we had launched a startup bridge between India and Qatar last year.
“India has a lot of strength in startups. And the foundation of these startups is technology, especially IT. And I’m sure that with the large Indian market and Qatar having the financial capital, that also makes it a win-win situation for both countries, so I’m optimistic that we will continue to make progress in that regard.”