India Can Access Surplus Gulf funds To Beat Global meltdown: PM

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New Delhi: On the eve of his visit to Oman and Qatar beginning Saturday, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Friday suggested that India can leverage "vast surplus funds" in the Gulf for its development needs in the backdrop of current global financial crisis.

"The current international economic and financial situation provides a unique opportunity for India to leverage the vast surplus funds in the Gulf for our development needs and to accelerate trade and investment flows into each of the countries", Singh said in a statement.

He said that during his visit he would be taking up with the leadership of Oman and Qatar the safety and welfare of Indians working there.

"We have a large number of Indian citizens working in Oman and Qatar. Their contribution to these countries is widely acknowledged and appreciated by the authorities....During my discussions in Oman and Qatar, I shall also discuss in which we can assure their safety and welfare", Singh said.

Referring to his visit to Qatar on November 9-10, the Prime Minister said "we attach great importance to our ties with Qatar which is one of the largest and most relaible suppliers of our energy needs from the region".

He said given the complementarities between the two countries, "I am confident that we can build a mutually beneficial and strategic partnership in this sector".

"The Gulf countries are extremely important for India and certainly Oman and Qatar in a big way," Ministry of External Affairs Secretary (East) N Ravi said, briefing the media on the visit.

On his first stop at Muscat, the Prime Minister would hold detailed discussions on the bilateral relations with Omanese Deputy Prime Minister Sayyid Fahd Mahmoud Al Said tomorrow and meet Sultan of Oman Qaboos bin Said on Sunday.

In Doha, he will have an audience with the Emir of Qatar Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al Thani and will hold discussions with his counterpart Sheikh Hamad bin Jassam bin Jabor al Thani.

Singh said he would discuss with the leadership in Oman and Qatar about the safety and welfare of Indians working there.

"Given the complementarities that exist between us, I am confident that we can build a mutually beneficial strategic partnership in this sector," he said.

For India, the region is not only important because of number of expats living and working there, but as a market and source of energy.

"The entire Gulf region is very important both as a market and as a source of energy security for us," Ravi said. "From both angles the visit would cover issues and certainly aspects of our relations with these countries... prospects of trade and investment from both sides."

Ravi said the USD 968 million OMIFCO plant at Sur was a "major symbol of cooperation with any country in the Gulf."

"Qatar on the other hand has the world's third largest reserves of gas which is also a good market for us, both for buying gas as well as selling goods," he said.

"This visit will be a major milestone in our relations with both these countries to bring us closer" in terms of trade, investment and overall long term energy security, Ravi said.

The Prime Minister may ask Oman to give to the project some of the gas it has begun receiving from Qatar through the Dolphin Energy pipeline, so that Oman India Fertilizer Co's capacity can be raised to 3.8 million tons from 1.65 million tons now.

In Qatar, where Singh would reach on the evening of November 9, New Delhi will seek a minimum 2.5 million tons a year of LNG to meet the growing energy needs.

"If they have more (LNG), we can take even 5 million tons," the official said.

OMIFCO, where Indian Farmers Fertiliser Cooperative Ltd (Iffco) and Krishak Bharati Cooperative Ltd (Kribhco) have 25 percent stake each while the remaining 50 percent is with Oman Oil Company, needs 0.7 million standard cubic meters per day of gas raising capacity to 2.5 million tons a year through debottlenecking at a cost of about USD 125 million.

It needs another 2 mmscmd for adding an additional train of 1.3 million tons for about USD 850 million.

Petronet LNG Ltd, a joint venture of Indian Oil, GAIL India, Bharat Petroleum and Oil and Natural Gas Corp, currently imports 5 million tons a year of LNG from RasGas of Qatar under a long-term contract.

An additional 2.5 million tons would be shipped under the same contract from January but the company needs to tie-up a similar quantity to fill the gap after capacity of its Dahej import terminal in Gujarat is doubled to 10 million tons by March 2009.





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