Representational picture solely.

India and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) will announce the launch of negotiations for a free commerce settlement on November 24, 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% to about $44 billion in 2021-22, as in opposition to $27.8 billion in 2020-21, in accordance with knowledge from the Commerce Ministry.

The share of GCC members in India’s complete imports rose to 18% in 2021-22, from 15.5% in 2020-21.

Bilateral commerce has elevated to $154.73 billion in 2021-22, from $87.4 billion in 2020-21. “GCC officers can be right here for the announcement,” the official mentioned. India has already carried out a free commerce pact with the UAE in Could this yr.

This may 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 reminiscent of Saudi Arabia and Qatar, and exports pearls, treasured and semi-precious stones; metals; imitation jewelry; electrical equipment; iron and metal; and chemical compounds to those nations.

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

These NRIs ship a major sum of money again house. Based on a November 2021 report of the World Financial institution, India obtained $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 the Gulf area holds huge potential for Indian exporters.

“India must have a long-term technique to seize this market and FTA will certainly assist in that,” Mr. Joshi mentioned. Based on Commerce Ministry knowledge, the share of those six nations in India’s complete exports has risen to 10.4% in 2021-22, from 9.51% in 2020-21.

“Equally, imports rose by 85.8% to $110.73 billion, in comparison with $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 $72.9 billion in 2021-22 as in comparison with $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 $43 billion in 2021-22, from $22 billion a yr in the past.

India imports 8.5 million tonnes a yr of LNG from Qatar and exports merchandise starting from cereals to meat, fish, chemical compounds, and plastics. Two-way commerce between India and Qatar rose to $15 billion in 2021-22 from $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 $12.3 billion in 2021-22, as in comparison with $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 $10 billion in 2021-22, as in comparison with $5.5 billion in 2020-21. Two-way commerce between Bahrain and India stood at $1.65 billion in 2021-22 as in opposition to $1 billion in 2020-21.