India-Saudi forge strong business ties; 15 Indian corporate ink pact

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi 

welcomes Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman

The first official visit of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman to India from February 19-20, 2019 should be termed as resounding success for many reasons. First of all, the visit of Crown Prince Salman who is also the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defence of Saudi Arabia has taken bilateral relations especially business cooperation to new level.

                                

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman with 

Indian President Ram Nath Kovind and Prime Minister Narendra Modi

The key highlights are;

• A decision to set up a Strategic Partnership Council and hold a summit meeting every two years.
• India-Saudi signed five memorandums of understanding in investment, tourism, housing, and information and broadcasting.
• Saudi will pump USD 100 billion investment in India in energy, refining, petrochemicals, infrastructure, agriculture and manufacturing.
• The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia will also invest in the IT industry.
• Around 400 business leaders from India and Saudi Arabia attended the Saudi India Forum to discuss opportunities for business cooperation.
• The release of 850 Indian prisoners from Saudi jails

The new synergy forged between India and Saudi was well evident from the announcement made by the Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority (SAGIA). 11 MoUs were signed to forge partnerships and four new licences worth more than USD 28 million were handed out to Indian companies at the Saudi-India Forum.  

Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), Wipro, Carnival Cinemas, Ion Exchange and Glenmark were among the Indian companies that signed 15 agreements on Wednesday to invest in Saudi Arabia. The MoUs will boost the collaboration in strategic growth sectors between several Saudi government entities.

Besides, licences were granted to AWJ Energy, SecurEyes, Carnival Cinemas and Red Sea Arabia Company to establish operations in Saudi Arabia. 

Currently Carnival Cinemas operates 162 properties, 470 screens across 20 states in India with total seating capacity of more than 150,000.

Shrikant Bhasi, Chairman & Founder,

Carnival Group

Carnival Cinemas spearheaded by Keralite Shrikant Bhasi is one of the leading multiplex chains in India. Carnival Group is a diversified business conglomerate with business interests in Multiplex, Movie Production & Distribution, Healthcare, Hospitality, Event Management, Realty, Trading, Information Technology, Infrastructure and Auto.

The number of SAGIA licences issued to Indian businesses grew 181 per cent in 2018 and the agreements signed are indicative of the interest among Indian businesses to take advantage of these opportunities said Ibrahim Al-Omar, Governor of SAGIA.