UAE considers $50 billion investment pledges for India: report

The United Arab Emirates is planning to invest $50 billion across sectors in India, with provisional pledges expected to be announced early next year, a Bloomberg report said on Thursday. 

Deals are being discussed between India and the UAE for investment in key Indian infrastructure projects and state-owned assets, the report said. The announcement may come just before the 2024 general elections when Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be seeking a third term in office.

Union commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal was recently in the UAE to attend the 11th meeting of the India-UAE High-Level Task Force on Investments. India and the UAE signed an MoU on cooperation in the field of industries and advanced technologies during his visit. 

MoU was signed in the presence of Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal and Sheikh Hamed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the Managing Director of Abu Dhabi Investment Authority.

Investors from the UAE are keen to invest in different sectors in India such as clean energy, infrastructure, education, healthcare, food processing, and financial services, Goyal said in Abu Dhabi on 5 October. 

The Joint Task Force was established in 2013 to promote trade, investment and economic ties between the UAE and India.

Bloomberg reported that entities overseen by UAE president Sheikh Mohamed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan’s brother, Sheikh Tahnoon, held early-stage talks on investing billions of dollars in India. 

Between April 2000 and June 2023, India received $16 billion in Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) from the UAE, accounting for 2% of the total FDI during that period, a PTI report said last month. 

The UAE Sovereign Wealth Funds (SWFs) invested over $10 billion in India during 2020-22. Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA) is the principal Sovereign Wealth Fund of the UAE and one of the world’s largest.

The bilateral economic and strategic relationship between India and the UAE has solidified since PM Modi’s arrival in office in 2014. The prime minister has visited the UAE five times, most recently in July. The India-UAE Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) was signed in 2022, giving further impetus to bilateral trade, which rose to $84.5 billion in 2022-023. 

Exports from India to the UAE have increased from $28 billion to $31.3 billion, an 11.8% year-on-year growth.