India, Saudi Arabia sign MoU on bilateral cooperation in areas of renewable energy

India and Saudi Arabia on Monday inked a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to step up bilateral cooperation in the areas of renewable energy, hydrogen and electricity as well as for power grid interconnection between the two countries.

The MoU was signed as Prime Minister Narendra Modi had a meeting with the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud in New Delhi. It would create a framework for Saudi Arabia’s support to build strategic petroleum reserves in India to ensure the country’s energy security. Modi and the West Asian kingdom’s crown prince, who is also known as MBS, also agreed to move fast on the $ 50 billion West Coast refinery project.

Mohammed bin Salman arrived in New Delhi on Saturday to attend the 18th G20 Summit, which Modi hosted on Saturday and Sunday.

He continued his stay in New Delhi for a State visit on Monday.

The meeting between Modi and MBS saw the two sides signing seven other pacts -four for cooperation in digitisation, combatting corruption, desalination and promoting micro, small and medium enterprises and three others for cooperation between national archives of the two countries, between Invest India and its counterpart in Saudi Arabia as well as between the respective Exim Banks.

“We reviewed our trade ties and are confident that the commercial linkages between our nations will grow even further in the times to come,” the prime minister posted on X, formerly Twitter, after he and the crown prince of Saudi Arabia co-chaired the first meeting of the strategic partnership council. “The scope for cooperation in grid connectivity, renewable energy, food security, semiconductors and supply chains are immense.”

“As two large and fast-growing economies of the world, our mutual cooperation is important for peace and stability in the entire region,” Modi said after his meeting with MBS.

The meeting between the two leaders saw both sides extending full support for early implementation of the West Coast refinery project in Maharashtra, which was conceived in 2015 as a trilateral project involving ARAMCO of Saudi Arabia, ADNOC of the United Arab Emirates and the entities of India, Ausaf Sayeed, secretary in the External Affairs Ministry, told journalists later.

“The two sides agreed to set up a joint task force to help in identifying and channelising the $100 billion investments, which was promised by Saudi Arabia, half of which being marked for the refinery,” said Sayeed.

Modi and MBS on Saturday joined the leaders of the US, the UAE, Germany, Italy, France and the European Union to sign an MoU for the ambitious India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor or the IMEC on the sideline of the G20 summit. The proposed IMEC will comprise an eastern corridor connecting India to the Gulf region and a northern corridor connecting the Gulf region to Europe. It will include a railway and ship-rail transit network and road transport routes.

MBS on Monday congratulated Modi for the success of the G20 Summit and told him that Saudi Arabia would “work diligently” to create infrastructure for the IMEC. “This corridor will not only connect two countries but also help in providing economic growth, and digital connectivity between Asia, West Asia and Europe,” the prime minister said.