Qatar-India bilateral trade jumps 63% year-on-year to $15.03bn in 2021-22

 

 

Buoyed up by liquefied natural gas supply, Qatar – India bilateral trade jumped 63% year-on-year to $15.03bn in 2021-22, data released by India’s Department of Commerce has shown.
Qatar is the largest supplier of LNG to India, accounting for more than 50% of India's global LNG imports. Besides LNG, India also imports ethylene, propylene, ammonia, urea and polyethylene from Qatar.
India is considered to be the fourth largest export destination for Qatar, Qatar Embassy in India said in its website.
According to India’s Department of Commerce, the country imported liquefied natural gas worth $5.9bn from Qatar in 2021-22, representing an 88% growth, year-on-year.
India imports natural gas from Qatar under an agreement signed by both sides in 1990 to buy and purchase the LNG amounting to 7.5mn tonne annually for a period of 25 years.
Subsequently, both sides agreed (in December 2015) that Qatar would provide India an additional quantity of the LNG amounting to one million annually.
Recently, addressing the India-Qatar Business Forum held on the occasion of his official visit to Qatar along with a high-profile Indian business delegation, India’s Vice-President Venkaiah Naidu said bilateral trade between both countries is currently dominated by the energy sector.
“Bilateral trade between India and Qatar has seen remarkable progress. Currently trade is dominated by energy, and our focus now is to expand in diversified trading.
“Also, we are seeing an increase in registered Indian businesses in Qatar, with over 15,000 businesses operating in the country. Over 100 Indian businesses are registered with the Qatar Financial Centre (QFC), and two companies at the Qatar Free Zones,” the Indian vice-president said.
Although, the balance of trade continues to be heavily in Qatar’s favour, there has been a substantial growth in India’s exports to Qatar in the last few years.
There has been a substantial increase in Qatar’s imports from India past 2-3 years, facilitated by the opening of direct shipping lines linking Indian ports with Qatar.
The increase, according to Embassy of India in Doha, has been in the area of food products, vegetables, pharmaceuticals, steel products and construction materials.
According to the Qatar Chamber of Commerce and Industry (QCCI), there are over 6,000 big and small Indian companies operating in Qatar. Indian companies are today pursuing collaborations in various sectors like infrastructure, communications and information technology, energy and other areas in Qatar.
The extensive infrastructure development in Qatar as it prepares to host the prestigious FIFA World Cup later this year and attain its National Vision 2030 objective, and the acknowledged competences of India’s corporate sector, offer attractive opportunities for cooperation.
Indian companies have invested about $450mn in Qatar, according to a statement by Qatar Financial Centre (QFC).
The two countries have set up a Joint Task Force on Investment to facilitate investments by Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) into India, and also to explore Qatari investments in the entire energy value-chain in India, Embassy of India in Doha noted.
Invest India and Investment Promotion Agency of Qatar have reached an understanding on co-operation to promote two-way investments between both countries.
Over the years, many Indian and Qatari trade and commerce delegations have visited and participated in events in both the countries.