Why Gulf Nations Keen on Investing in India

While major energy producers in the Gulf, including Saudi Arabia and the UAE, have expressed strong interest in funding oil refinery projects in India, New Delhi is also looking at sourcing more investment from Qatar. The initiative supports India’s plan to increase national refining capacity from 5.4mn barrels per day (bpd) to over 6.2mn bpd to meet rising domestic fuel requirements. India is also broadening its diplomatic outreach to Qatar to secure institutional capital across the broader energy value chain. In April, during a two-day official visit to Doha, India’s Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas Hardeep Singh Puri met Qatar’s Minister of State for Energy Affairs Saad Sherida al-Kaabi, who is also President and CEO of QatarEnergy, to discuss strategic relations, trade, investment, and maritime supply chain security. During the meeting, both officials reaffirmed bilateral energy cooperation while stressing the necessity of maintaining stability in global fuel supplies and ensuring unhindered maritime commerce during regional disruptions. While trade between the two nations has historically been anchored by longterm liquefied natural gas (LNG) supply agreements, bilateral dialogue is increasingly focusing on mutual equity participation in processing assets. Long-term gas trade remains a central pillar, highlighted by Petronet LNG’s 20-year contract extension in 2024 to purchase 7.5mn tonnes of LNG annually from QatarEnergy through July 2028 and beyond. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman held a discussion on September 29 with her Qatar counterpart Ali bin Ahmed Al Kuwari on the implementation of the $10 billion Qatari investment commitment in India and finalisation of the Bilateral Investment Treaty. At the meeting held on the sidelines of the AIIB 2026 annual meeting in Doha, the two Finance Ministers also discussed the expansion of Indian UPI payments across Qatar and the Gulf nation’s engagement with the National Infrastructure and Investment Fund of India.