Mr. Dharmendra Pradhan, Indian Minister of State for Petroleum & Natural Gas addresses a round table on investment opportunities in India

Dubai, 12th April, 2016: Mr. Dharmendra Pradhan, Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Petroleum and Natural Gas, Government of India addressed UAE business leaders at a gathering held on 11th April, 2016 at the Taj Dubai. The event was also attended by a delegation from the Energy sector in India including CMDs from the Indian Oil Corporation, Hindustan Petroleum, Oil India Limited and Bharat Petro Resources. The round table was attended by prominent business leaders from across the GCC.

The event was organised by Indian Oil Corporation Limited, India's flagship Oil Company and Alpen Capital, Dubai under the patronage of the Consul General of India in the UAE.

Mr. Pradhan highlighted the role of India as one of the fastest growing economies in the world and talked about the investment opportunities available to investors in the energy sector.  In the petroleum sector, the Government has allowed 100% FDI in all segments including exploration, production, refineries, pipelines, marketing, etc. The Minister highlighted that India imports 16MMT crude from UAE which is its sixth biggest source besides selling & buying substantial petroleum products to UAE. He added his visit is part of the initiative from both countries to transform transactional relationship in energy into a genuine energy partnership.

Ambassador T. P. Seetharam pointed to the close association of Mr. Dharmendra Pradhan with the recent visit to India of H.H. Sheikh Mohamed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi on February 11-13, 2016. Anurag Bhushan, Consul General, spoke of India's emergence as the fastest growing crude consumer in the world through 2040 largely on the back of increasing share of manufacturing in the economy. Rohit Walia, Executive Chairman, Alpen Capital, expressed hope that this conference would promote business opportunities in the GCC-India Corridor and Alpen Capital as always will continue to play role in further enhancing the relationship between the two countries.

Minister Pradhan after the round table visited the Annual Investment Meet where he inaugurated the India Pavilion. He also had a meeting with HE Saeed Mohd. Al Tayer, Managing Director and CEO, Dubai Electricity and Water Supply on the sidelines of AIM to discuss bilateral cooperation in the energy sector.