India and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) will announce the launch of negotiations for a free commerce settlement on Thursday, which goals at selling two-way commerce and investments between the areas, an official mentioned.

GCC is a union of six nations within the Gulf area — Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Qatar, Kuwait, Oman and Bahrain.

India’s exports to the GCC member nations grew by 58.26 per cent to about USD 44 billion in 2021-22, as in opposition to USD 27.8 billion in 2020-21, in keeping with information from the commerce ministry.

The share of GCC members in India’s whole imports rose to 18 per cent in 2021-22, from 15.5 per cent in 2020-21.
Bilateral commerce has elevated to USD 154.73 billion in 2021-22, from USD 87.4 billion in 2020-21.

“GCC officers might be right here for the announcement,” the official mentioned.

India has already carried out a free commerce pact with the UAE in Might this 12 months.

This could be a sort of resumption of FTA talks as earlier two rounds of negotiations had been held in 2006 and 2008 between India and GCC. Third spherical didn’t occur as GCC deferred its negotiations with all nations and financial teams.

India imports predominately crude oil and pure gasoline from the Gulf nations like Saudi Arabia and Qatar, and exports pearls, valuable and semi-precious stones; metals; imitation jewelry; electrical equipment; iron and metal; and chemical substances to those nations.

Moreover commerce, Gulf nations are host to a sizeable Indian inhabitants. Out of about 32 million non-resident Indians (NRIs), almost half are estimated to be working in Gulf nations.

These NRIs ship a major amount of cash again residence.

In keeping with a November 2021 report of the World Financial institution, India bought USD 87 billion in overseas remittances in 2021. Of this, a sizeable portion got here from the GCC nations.

Bangalore-based Indian Institute of Plantation Administration (IIPM) Director Rakesh Mohan Joshi mentioned that the Gulf area holds monumental potential for Indian exporters.

“India must have a long-term technique to seize this market and FTA will certainly assist in that,” Joshi mentioned.

In keeping with commerce ministry information, the share of those six nations in India’s whole exports has risen to 10.4 per cent in 2021-22, from 9.51 per cent in 2020-21.

Equally, imports rose by 85.8 per cent to USD 110.73 billion, in comparison with USD 59.6 billion in 2020-21, the info confirmed.

The UAE was the third-largest buying and selling companion of India in 2021-22. India’s bilateral commerce with the nation elevated to USD 72.9 billion in 2021-22 as in comparison with USD 43.3 billion in 2020-21.

Saudi Arabia was the fourth-largest buying and selling companion final fiscal. Complete bilateral commerce has elevated to about USD 43 billion in 2021-22, from USD 22 billion a 12 months in the past.

India imports 8.5 million tonnes a 12 months of LNG from Qatar and exports merchandise starting from cereals to meat, fish, chemical substances, and plastics. Two-way commerce between India and Qatar rose to USD 15 billion in 2021-22 from USD 9.21 billion in 2020-21.

Kuwait was the twenty seventh largest buying and selling companion of India within the final fiscal. Bilateral commerce has jumped to USD 12.3 billion in 2021-22, as in comparison with USD 6.3 billion in 2020-21.

Oman was the thirty first largest buying and selling companion of India in 2021-22. Bilateral commerce with the nation has elevated to about USD 10 billion in 2021-22, as in comparison with USD 5.5 billion in 2020-21.

Two-way commerce between Bahrain and India stood at USD 1.65 billion in 2021-22 as in opposition to USD 1 billion in 2020-21.