By News18

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Doha, Oct 6 (PTI) India and Qatar on Monday discussed ways to increase bilateral trade and investments between the two countries.
Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal, who is here on a two-day visit, held deliberations with Sheikh Faisal bin Thani bin Faisal Al Thani, Minister of Commerce and Industry of Qatar.
“We discussed ways to increase India-Qatar bilateral trade and also reaffirmed our commitment to further strengthen the multifaceted partnership across trade, investment, and strategic cooperation, opening immense avenues for greater collaboration,” Goyal said in a post on X.
The minister is leading a business delegation here to discuss investment opportunities between the two countries.
The visit comes at a time when both countries are looking at negotiating a free trade agreement.
Qatar is an important trading partner of India in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) with bilateral trade of over USD 14.15 billion in 2024-25.
GCC members are Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
India already has a trade pact with the UAE. A similar deal is likely to be signed with Oman soon.
The trade relationship with Qatar remains heavily skewed toward energy imports, with petroleum crude and gas products making up nearly 90 per cent of India’s total imports from Qatar.
India’s exports to Qatar totalled USD 1.68 billion, while imports surged to USD 12.46 billion, producing a substantial trade deficit of USD 10.78 billion in the last fiscal.
Key energy components imported by India from Qatar include liquefied natural gas, liquefied butanes, liquefied propane, petroleum crude, and other petroleum products.
The other imports from the Middle East nation include fertilisers, organic chemicals, plastic raw materials, aluminium and aluminium products, dye intermediates, and inorganic chemicals.
India’s exports of USD 1.68 billion to Qatar reflected mixed trends across sectors, with industrial products, food items, and machinery dominating the basket.
In 2024-25, it included products of iron and steel, rice, gold and precious metal jewellery, processed minerals, motor vehicles/cars, petroleum products, electrical machinery, electronics, buffalo meat, and sugar.
India has received USD 1.53 billion in foreign direct investment from Qatar from April 2000 to June 2025. PTI RR ANU ANU