New Delhi, July 17 (UNI) A proposal for India-Oman Joint Venture (JV) for setting up of world’s largest waste to energy plant in India is under consideration, Commerce Minister Suresh Prabhu informed his Oman counterpart Ali bin Masoud Al Sunaidy at the 8th joint session of the India-Oman Joint Commission at Muscat held on July 16 and 17.
This Joint Venture will generate 200 Giga Watt energy per year by processing around 9000 tonnes of Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) per year. India is awaiting response from Oman to take it forward.
Both countries agreed that cooperation in the field of energy, especially renewable energy like wind and solar, was important.
During the joint session,both sides reviewed their bilateral trade and noted that the existing volume has shown remarkable growth since the last session of the Joint Commission in 2014. Indian said that the India-Oman bilateral trade has registered a growth from US$ 4131.69 million in 2014-15 to US$ 6703.76 million in 2017-18.
India’s export to Oman has grown from US$ 2379.44 million to US$ 2439.46 million in 2017-18. The total FDI from Oman into India from April 2000 to March, 2018 was of the order of US$ 469.20 million with Oman ranking 31st in terms of Foreign Direct Investment in India.
Both sides stressed the importance of further enhancing trade relations and also to diversify the trade basket. Oman invited Indian investors in sectors like renewable energy and infrastructure.
Mr Prabhu, who was leading the India delegation at the session, requested for reduction in customs tariff on Indian chemical products exported to Oman, which is approximately 5 per cent.
Both sides agreed to obtain their respective internal approvals for early finalization of India-Oman Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement (DTAA). The India Oman Bilateral Investment Treaty (BIT) is under revision. Meetings have been held during 2017 and 2018 on BIT and comments of the Omani side on the Indian Model BIT text are under consideration.
Both sides discussed the issue of Oman India Fertilizer Company (OMIFCO) and extension of Urea Off Take Agreement (UOTA) beyond 2020.
The Indian side informed that the final approval for signing the amended UOTA is likely to take about two months, an official statement from Commerce Ministry said.
India further informed that since UOTA is valid till 2020, talks should start for extension of UOTA beyond 2020 and upto 2025.
The Omani side informed that they are willing to consider extension of the existing UOTA beyond 2020. The Government of India is also proposing for continuation of the existing prices for the extension of validity of the Gas Supply Agreement (GSA).
An India-Oman Joint Working Group (JWG) on agriculture has been set up and it has already held its first meeting. India has a potential to export agricultural items like grapes, tomato, wheat and sugar which Oman is importing from other countries.
India and Oman agreed to cooperate in the field of tourism. Oman invited Indian investors and operators of hotels to invest in Oman. Promotion of adventure, wellness, medical and spiritual tourism in Oman was also proposed by India.
The other areas of cooperation agreed to by the both sides include mines, telecom and IT, space, health and education.
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