MUMBAI: Union minister of commerce Piyush Goyal said UAE investors have expressed intent to invest another $25 billion, on the back of $25 billion already invested, with an eventual objective of taking investments in India to $100 billion.Citing the Emirates NBD investment in RBL and IHC’s acquisition of a stake in Sammaan Capital, Goyal said UAE has invested $25 billion in India and is the seventh-largest source of foreign direct investment.“We are also exploring the possibility of UAE becoming a more important source of LPG and other energy supplies that we require. A study is also underway to see whether we can develop subsea pipelines through which gas can be transported and stored in India, strengthening our energy resilience and security,” said Goyal. The two sides also discussed expanding cooperation in shipbuilding, modern ports, space technology, agri-innovation, logistics, artificial intelligence, emerging technologies, energy security and fintech.India and UAE are also discussing increasing the use of the rupee and dirham for bilateral trade. Goyal said local currency trade is currently in double digits and is expected to continue growing.“If we have to pay for imports in dirham and receive rupee payments for exports, we can periodically convert the balances into dollars,” said Goyal, addressing a press meet on Monday. Bankers said that since the UAE dirham is pegged to the dollar at a fixed rate, bilateral trade in local currencies is viable, liquid and low risk.The comments came after India and UAE held the 14th meeting of the High-Level Joint Task Force on Investments, where the two sides discussed investments, trade facilitation, taxation, logistics, energy, market access and financial cooperation.Goyal said the task force had become an effective mechanism to resolve challenges faced by investors and address issues related to the implementation of the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA).The CEPA is now four years old and bilateral trade has doubled to $100 billion, Goyal pointed out.
