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Kuwait
India
Trade – an Overview
Kuwait
has always offered a widely open, highly competitive,
sophisticated and affluent market for capital and consumer goods
and for project exports. In
the post liberation period, the bilateral trade between
India
and
Kuwait
has steadily been on the upswing.
India-Kuwait
Bilateral Trade 1996-2000
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In
addition to traditional goods, the areas with much higher
exports potential from
India
include pharmaceuticals, medical equipment, equipment for use in
refineries and oil installations, the power sector, computer
software, leather products, sports goods and sophisticated
furniture and consumer electronics. In the service sector also,
the shift is towards recruiting professionals – the Chartered
Accountants, Computer Engineers etc., - in addition to unskilled
and semi-skilled personnel.
Participation
by Indian Corporate Sector
Telecommunication
Consultants India Ltd. (TCIL)
has bagged contracts worth US$100 million since liberation.
Most of the projects have been completed while others are
under execution. Another
Indian company Southern Petrochemical Industries Corporation
(SPIC) has bagged a mechanical maintenance contract for a
refinery work for around US$ 40 million, against stiff
international competition.
They have executed various minor projects worth over US$
3 million and are suitably placed in the oil sector in
Kuwait
. SPIC has also set
up a joint venture with a local company, M/s. National
Consulting Bureau for undertaking small/medium contracts in
respect of repair and maintenance in the oil and petrochemical
sector. The JVC has
been set up in
Kuwait
at an authorised capital of KD.1,200,000.
SPIC will have a holding share of 49% in the venture and
the remaining 51% shall be held by the Kuwaiti Company. SPIC,
being the lowest bidder, was awarded a 5-year contract (from
1999-2004) by Kuwait National Petroleum Company (KNPC) for
maintenance of prestigious Mina Abdullah Refinery.
The Contract is valued at KD.14.4 million.
The Engineers India Ltd. (EIL) is also active in the Kuwaiti
market and has executed an engineering consultancy project worth
over US$ 1 million. M/s. Punj Lloyd has bagged a contract for
repair of storage facilities in various refineries.
The New India Assurance Company, the Oriental Insurance Company,
Air
India
and Indian Airlines have set up their offices in
Kuwait
, in association with local Kuwaiti sponsors, as per the
prevailing regulations and are doing good business.
The Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) has an office in
Kuwait
. However we understand that the office may be closed by end of
April 2002. Several Indian companies have netted sub-contracts
for different activities in
Kuwait
. Prominent among
them are M/s. Abban Construction Co., who are doing underground
piping, M/s. UB Engineering (Vijay Mallaya Group) who are in the
Sabiya Power Station and M/s. Dodsal who received a sub-contract
for construction work at Mina Ahmadi.
INDIAN
MANPOWER
According
to the latest official statistics, the total population of
Kuwait
is 2.27 million of whom slightly less than 800,000 are Kuwaitis.
The number of Indians is estimated to be around 309,900. Data on
the number of Indian expatriate workforce in
Kuwait
is given below:-
Statistics
of Indian nationals residing in the State of
Kuwait
as on 18.09.2001
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KUWAITI
INVESTMENT IN
INDIA
The
Kuwaiti investment in
India
is mainly in the financing sector, involving financing of our
ongoing infrastructure projects like roads, highways and energy.
The Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic development (KFAED) has
extended concessional loans to India for a number of projects
(8) in various sectors (Industry – 2 projects totaling Rs.
3.10 billion; Power – 5 projects totaling Rs. 6.71 billion and
Agriculture – 1 project amounting to Rs. 0.80 billion) to the
extent of KD. 88.854 million (Rs. 10.61 billion) till
31st December 1997
. The updated figures of total loan amount upto 31.12.99 are US
$ 271.89 Million, which works out to a little over Rs. 12.78
billion at the current rate of exchange.
These projects are Kalinadi Hydro-Electric Power Stage
(1); Kopili Hydro-Electric Power Project,
Anpara Power Stage(1);
Anpara Power (Coal transportation and handling);
Thal Fertilizer; South
Bassein Gas; Kalinadi
Hydro-Electric (stage-2) and
Kerala Fisheries Development.
The total Kuwaiti FDI proposals approved during 1992 – 2002
(January.) have amounted to Rs. 6004.98 million (i.e. 6
billion).
Kuwait
’s FDI approved during
1992-2002
(Amount
in Rs. Million)
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