UAE to invest Rs 1.10 lakh crore in India, decided in Modi-Abu Dhabi crown prince meeting

A major shift has come in economic ties between India and the United Arab Emirates. In a bilateral meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Sheikh Khaled bin Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the UAE agreed to invest around Rs 1.10 lakh crore in India. It is being described as a major opportunity for India.

India is currently hosting the 18th BRICS summit, and Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Sheikh Khaled bin Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan is attending as part of it. Prime Minister Modi met him at Hyderabad House in New Delhi on Saturday, September 12. The two leaders reviewed the growing economic and strategic ties between India and the UAE. Following the meeting, it emerged that the UAE's International Holding Company plans to invest 11.5 billion dollars, around Rs 1 lakh crore, in an integrated greenfield aluminium project in Odisha, India.

The meeting focused mainly on the UAE's investment plans in India. Modi and Sheikh Khaled welcomed the announcement that International Holding Company would invest 11.5 billion dollars in the Odisha aluminium project. It is being said that this will be India's largest integrated aluminium investment project so far, and is expected to help Odisha emerge as one of the world's aluminium production hubs.

After the meeting, Prime Minister Modi wrote that India-UAE ties have completely transformed in recent years, and that the two countries are now raising their ambitions further. He said he was happy to meet Sheikh Khaled bin Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, and that they discussed advancing strategic partnership in defence, AI, space and other sectors.

The UAE's International Holding Company, or IHC, is majority owned by Abu Dhabi's Royal Group. Royal Group is controlled by the ruling Al Nahyan family, which holds a 61 percent stake in the company. IHC is led and overseen by Sheikh Tahnoun bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the UAE's National Security Advisor and brother of UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, who is himself IHC's chairman. IHC is a publicly traded company listed on the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange, or ADX, and also has other institutional and public shareholders.

At the same Hyderabad House meeting, the two leaders also agreed to continue strengthening cooperation through the BRICS platform and to advance shared interests.