India, Saudi Arabia to set up two oil refineries

India and Saudi Arabia have agreed expand their energy co-operation by announcing to jointly develop two new oil refineries in India.

The announcement came after a meeting of the India-Saudi Arabia Strategic Partnership Council (SPC), co-chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Jeddah.

The agreement to establish the refineries is part of a broader initiative to fortify bilateral ties across several sectors including energy, defence, trade, investment, and technology.

Saudi Arabia, which is India’s third-biggest supplier of crude oil after Russia and Iraq, will also help India with its oil reserve program and keep a steady supply of crude oil, LPG, and related products. Both countries will also work together on building oil refineries and chemical plants, and look into new and cleaner ways to use energy.

“To strengthen cultural and people-to-people ties, which have significant momentum in recent years, the Council decided to create a new Ministerial Committee on Tourism and Cultural Cooperation under the SPC,” said a statement from the Prime Minister’s Office.

During the visit, India and Saudi Arabia agreed to collaborate to keep the global oil market stable and energy supplies balanced. Although Saudi Arabia has long been an important oil supplier for India, its share has dropped after New Delhi turned towards Russia to buy more discounted oil from Russia.

Saudi Arabia also plans to invest $100 billion in India. This money will go into areas like energy, chemicals, roads, digital tech, banking tech, telecom, medicine, factories, and healthcare.

Meanwhile, Modi had to end his two-day visit and return to India following a terror attack in Pahalgam in volatile Kashmir.