The two nations’ relationship has undergone a dramatic shift in the last few years. These connections have been beneficial to saudi arabia india recent investment boom, particularly since Indian businesses were early adopters of this industry and gained expertise.
Over the past five years, Indian foundational infrastructure companies’ order books have benefited from saudi arabia india ambitious Vision 2030 economic development agenda, which is expected to continue to play a major role going forward.
saudi arabia india which now provides 80–90% of the engineering behemoth Larsen & Toubro’s foreign orders, has been placing more orders. Hydrocarbon and foundational infrastructure construction projects have also been awarded to other engineering, procurement, and construction firms.
More than 500 Indian companies are working on investments worth over $2 billion in saudi arabia india where a delegation of top executives from the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry was taken last week. Over $3.3 billion has been invested in India by Saudi Arabia in a variety of commercial and economic fields.
While traveling, FICCI Secretary General S.K. Patra emphasized that Indian businesses are contributing significantly to saudi arabia india Vision 2030 development, especially to the projects pertaining to the developing NEOM urban area.
According to Patra We’ve only just begun.More than a trillion dollars have been committed by the whole NEOM metropolis. This will involve a large portion of saudi arabia india companies.
As stated by the Saudi Ambassador to India, Saleh bin Eid Al-Hussein India’s trading partner in Saudi Arabia is the second largest, whereas saudi arabia india is India’s fourth largest.
In 2023, the value of bilateral trade was close to $43 billion, of which approximately $30 billion came from imports into Saudi Arabia. Bilateral trade was roughly $39.4 billion in the 2015 fiscal year, with $28.2 billion of that amount coming from imports from Saudi Arabia.”
Relationships between the two countries have undergone substantial changes in recent years.
The Bureau of Research on Industry and Economic Fundamentals’ (BRIEF) founding member and director, Afak Hussain, said Indian businesses have been operating in Western Asian nations for more than ten years, which has enhanced foreign governments’ trust in them and aided them in obtaining project awards.
Hussain said that Indian businesses have proven they can meet the technical requirements of fresh tenders from nations in Western Asia.
Moneycontrol was informed by Pinak R. Chakravarty, the former Secretary of the Ministry of External Affairs, that India’s development in recent decades, along with the growing technical complexity of its foundational infrastructure projects, have demonstrated the ability of Indian companies to participate in international tendering processes.
According to Chakravarty The world has seen the capabilities of Indian infrastructure companies demonstrated through projects such as the Bandra Worli Sea Link Delhi Metro and others.
A number of Indian infrastructure companies are becoming eligible for international tenders, not only in saudi arabia india but globally as well, industry officials pointed out, pointing to the importance of their rapid adoption of global standards. This is in contrast to when the industry began in 2010.
2011-2012: “India will be a big name in global tenders,” stated a senior official of a foundational infrastructure group with operations in saudi arabia india and India. Looking at recent tenders, however, you’ll see that four or five of the top ten bidders are Indian or have partnerships with Indian businesses.
The world’s largest oil and gas company, Aramco, accounts for a sizable portion of the $15–16 billion in orders that Larsen & Toubro has on file from Saudi Arabia, according to an interview with Moneycontrol on February 3.
They claimed that the annual gross domestic product of the Kingdom is about $250 billion.
As the biggest exporter contributing to the company’s ₹38,000 crore order book, Saudi Arabia is the focus of KEC International’s managing director and CEO, Vimal Kejriwal, who spoke with Moneycontrol. The company is primarily working on transmission and distribution projects in Saudi Arabia.
Horizon to the west
Indian businesses are waiting for additional opportunities from the Joint Working Groups (JWGs) of the two nations to fulfill the Saudi commitment to invest $100 billion during Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud’s February 2019 visit to India.
The $50 billion West Coast Refinery in India, built by Saudi Aramco Abu Dhabi National Oil Company and saudi arabia india companies, is a nearby megaproject that is anticipated to be a significant undertaking for Indian companies.
In an effort to revive bilateral ties, Saudi Arabia and India formed the Strategic Partnership Council (SPC), which is co-chaired by the Crown Prince of the Kingdom and the Prime Minister of India. The SPC encompasses a number of areas of cooperation and consists of two minister-chaired committees: one on economy and investment and the other on political, security, social, and cultural cooperation.
There are eight Joint Working Groups made up of these two pillars. Four working groups—one each for industries and infrastructure, agriculture and food security, IT and technology, and energy—are part of the Economy and Investment pillar.
On September 11, 2023, during Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s official visit to India, the SPC held its inaugural summit. The meeting redefined growing commercial engagements and signaled a new turning point in bilateral relations between Saudi Arabia and India.
