Saudi Arabia to invest USD 600 mn in India

New Delhi, Jan 17: In a call for invitation of trade and business in India, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) today said, it will invest around 600 million dollars for the purpose in the coming years with the help of corporations from both the countries.

''We will invest about 600 million dollars in India for the industrial projects like mining, energy, real estate, knowledge-based processes, etc,'' said Saudi Business Delegation to India Co-Chairman Abdul Rahman A Al-Rabiah here.

He is also the Managing Director of Al-Rabiah Co, Saudi-Indian Business Council (Saudi side).

Minister of Commerce and Industry Hashim bin Abdullah bin Hashim Al-Yamani who was present at the seminar said, this is the right time to forge for the real partnership between the two countries.

He also said unlike in the past where getting a business visa was a bit problematic, it should not be a concern now for the businessmen. He hoped that both the countries will now support with their efforts to fulfill the requirements.

FICCI President Habil Khorakiwala appealed to the Saudi minister to broaden the interface with Saudi Arabia in areas such asppocessed plant equipment, downstream petrochemicals, fertilisers, infrastructure, construction, machine tools, auto components, electrical equipment, chemicals, engineering and pharmaceutical consultancies.

Saudi Arab's economy is liberalising radically and had granted licences to Indian companies for joint ventures or even 100 per cent equity in large number of secrors.

Even 90 per cent of the Indian sectors are open for Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) through automatic route requiring no permission, Mr Khorakiwala said.

''These parallel processes of liberalisation of two great nations must be bridged firmly so that seamless movement of two-way investment and significant broadening of the tradable items take place in the next three years,'' he added.

UNI