Embassy of India
Riyadh
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India-Saudi Arabia: Economic and Commercial Brief

India and Saudi Arabia share centuries’ old economic and socio-cultural ties. Economic ties constitute a keynote aspect of the bilateral strategic partnership. The Delhi Declaration (signed in 2006 on the sidelines of H.M. King Abdullah’s visit to India) and Riyadh Declaration (signed in 2010 during the Prime Ministerial visit) boosted the energy cooperation between both countries. The Riyadh Declaration committed the two sides to a strategic partnership based on complementarity and interdependence. 

2. The landmark visits of Honorable Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi to the Kingdom in 2016, 2019 and 2025 and the State visit of Crown Prince and Prime Minister HRH Prince Mohammad bin Salman to India 2019 and 2023 have marked a new era in the bilateral relations. HRH Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Crown Prince & Prime Minister of Saudi Arabia, visited India in September, 2023 to participate in the G20 Leaders’ Summit and to co-chair the 1st Leaders’ Meeting of the India-Saudi Arabia Strategic Partnership Council (SPC) along with Hon’ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi. On 22 April 2025, Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi visited Jeddah on a state visit and both leaders co-chaired the 2nd meeting of SPC. These visits have seen the signing of multiple agreements in the areas of technology; pharmaceuticals; investment; health; energy; and several other areas of cooperation. There have been a number of ministerial visits from both sides on regular basis. A brief description of such visits from India to the Kingdom is included in Annexure I.  

3. Strategic Partnership Council between India and Saudi Arabia was set-up in October, 2019 having two sub-committees, namely, the Committee on Political, Security, Social and Cultural (PSSC) Cooperation (headed by the Foreign Ministers), and the Committee on Economy & Investments (E&I) (Headed by Indian Commerce and Industry Minister and Saudi Minister for Energy). There are eight Joint Working Groups (JWGs) under the two sub-committees. The four JWGs under the PSSC Committee are I) Political & Consular; II) Legal & Security; III) Joint Committee on Defence Cooperation; and IV) Social & Cultural. The four JWGs under the E&I Committee are I) Agriculture & Food Security; II) Energy; III) Technology & Information Technology; and IV) Industry & Infrastructure. Prime Minister Shri Narendra visited Jeddah on 22 April 2025 and co-chaired the 2nd meeting of the Strategic Partnership Council along with Crown Prince and Prime Minister of Kingdom of Saudi Arabia HRH Prince Mohammed Bin Salman. During the meeting, it was decided to expand the SPC to four Ministerial Committees to include Ministerial Committees on Defense Cooperation and Tourism & Cultural Cooperation.

4. The first Summit meeting of the SPC took place during the State visit of Crown Prince and Prime Minister of Kingdom of Saudi Arabia HRH Prince Mohammed Bin Salman on September 11, 2023. The meeting marked a new milestone in the India-Saudi bilateral ties and underlined the burgeoning commercial engagements. During this meeting, 8 MoUs were signed between both sides for cooperation in the fields of Energy, IT, Anti-corruption, Archives, Investments, EXIM banks, SME banks and Desalination. The first India-Saudi Investment Forum was organized on the sidelines of this visit which was co-chaired by Minister of Commerce and Industry, Shri. Piyush Goyal and the Saudi Minister of Investment, H.E. Khalid Al Falih. More than 50 MoUs (B2B and B2G) were signed during this Forum. Saudi Minister of Investment also announced that  Ministry of Investment would open an office in India. The India-Saudi Arabia startup bridge was launched by both Ministers. During the 2nd meeting of the SPC in April 2025 in Jeddah, MOUs were signed in the areas of health, space and Posts.

5. The High Level Task Force on Investment was constituted in 2024 following the State visit of Crown Prince and Prime Minister of Kingdom of Saudi Arabia HRH Prince Mohammed Bin Salman to India in September 2023. It is co-chaired by Saudi Minister of Energy and Principal Secretary to Prime Minister. Several rounds of meetings have been held at executive and working levels to discuss areas pertaining to investments. The second meeting of the High Level Task Force took place in person in Riyadh on 21 April, 2025. 

6. Trade: Saudi Arabia is India’s 5th largest trade partner and India is Saudi Arabia’s 2nd largest trade partner. During FY 2024-25, total trade between both countries reached US$ 41.88 billion with India’s imports from Saudi Arabia at US $30.12 billion and exports to Saudi Arabia worth US$ 11.76 billion. Total trade with Saudi Arabia accounted for 3.61% of India’s total trade during this period.

[In Million USD]
 [Source: DGFT]

7. Major commodities of export from India to Saudi Arabia include engineering goods, rice, vehicles and associated equipment, chemicals, textiles, food products, gems & jewelry; whereas, major commodities of import for India from Saudi Arabia are Crude oil, LPG, fertilizers, chemicals, plastic and products thereof etc.

8. Investments:

I. Indian investments in Saudi Arabia:

• Indian investments in Saudi Arabia totaled around US$3 billion, with 2,923 licenses issued to Indian companies (August 2023). These investments are across diverse sectors such as management and consultancy services, construction projects, telecommunications, IT, financial services and software development, pharmaceuticals, etc. Major Indian companies and corporate groups such as L&T, TATA Motors, Wipro, TCS, Shapoorji & Pallonji, Tech Mahindra, Vedanta, Essar etc., have a strong presence in the Kingdom. Several Indian companies like MAN Enterprise, Rashmi Metaliks etc. are also establishing their presence in the manufacturing sector in the Kingdom.

• Among Indian Public Sector Companies, Telecommunications India Limited has been present in the Kingdom for four decades. Recently, Engineers India Limited and Rail Vikas Nigam Ltd., a Navratna PSU, have also set up their offices in Saudi Arabia. 

II. Saudi Investments in India:

•  Saudi investments in India including that of PIF, other Saudi companies and Saudi backed Vision Fund, has been about USD 10 billion. Major investments include PIF’s investments in Reliance Jio Platforms (USD 1.5 billion to acquire a 2.32% stake) and Reliance Retail Ventures Limited (USD 1.3 billion to acquire a 2.04% stake). In 2020, the PIF - owned Saudi Agricultural & Livestock Investment Company (SALIC) has acquired a 30% stake in Daawat Foods Ltd. through its subsidiary United Farmers Investment Company, for a value of USD 17.23 million. In 2022, SALIC purchased a 9.2% stake in the India-based LT Foods Limited totaling USD 44 million. In July 2021, Elm, a company-owned by PIF, has invested in India-based health tech Healthifyme’s USD 75 million Series C funding round. 

•  Apart from PIF, major investment groups from the Kingdom include SABIC, AlFanar, ZAMIL, Abdul Latif Jameel, Al Jomaih and Petromin. Al Fanar has invested approximately $700 million in wind and solar projects in Gujarat and Rajasthan. In 2021, AlFanar India was awarded two smart metering projects by the Madhya Pradesh DISCOMs (Bhopal and Jabalpur) for installation of around 2 million smart meters. SABIC has invested over $ 100 million in its technology and innovation Centre in Bengaluru. Saudi auto distributor Abdul Latif Jameel Co. has made a strategic investment of $150 million in India's Greaves Electric Mobility, the electric vehicle arm of the engineering firm Greaves Cotton. Petromin Corporation, a mobility solutions leader in KSA, in partnership with HPCL plans to set up around 1,000 vehicle service centres at the latter’s retail outlets in India. 

9. The Future Investment Initiative (FII): Organized by the FII Institute, it is the annual flagship event of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia which sees participation of global investors from across the world. In 2019, Honorable Prime Minister had delivered the Keynote address at the 3rd FII Summit. In 2023 and 2024, Hon’ble Minister of Commerce & Industry Shri Piyush Goyal addressed the 7th and 8th editions of FII. 

10. Sector-wise Collaboration: 

a) Hydrocarbons: India imported 33.14 MMT of crude oil in the financial year 2024-25, accounting for 13.58 % of its total crude imports. Crude oil Imports in Million Metric Tonne (MMT) from Saudi Arabia in the last few years are as follows:

India imported 3.34 MMT of LPG from Saudi Arabia during FY 2024-25 which was 14.99% of its total LPG imports in 2024-25. LPG imports in Million Metric Tonne (MMT) from Saudi Arabia in the last few years are as follows:

b) Energy: Vision 2030 looks to transition from conventional sources to alternative renewable and clean sources of energy. Saudi Arabia is a member of International Solar Alliance (ISA). The Kingdom has launched Saudi Green Initiative and Middle East Green Initiative in 2022 to fulfill its commitments on energy transition. Furthermore, both countries are collaboratively exploring Hydrogen Energy as a future source of energy. Both countries have signed bilateral agreement in the area of grid inter-connectivity. 

c) Automotive: The automotive sector is one of prominent exports from India to Saudi Arabia. India and KSA have numerous collaborative opportunities in terms of joint ventures, development of auto hubs, R & D etc. Indian companies like TATA Motors, Mahindra, Force Motors and Ashok Leyland are already present in the Kingdom. Ashok Leyland has entered into a strategic partnership with Al-Futtaim Auto & Machinery Company in the passenger transport segment in Saudi Arabia.

d) Textiles: India presents a host of opportunities of collaboration in this sector such as textile processing projects, integrated garment parks, investment in retail operations, technology transfer, skill development and commercialization of hand loom products. In 2024-25, India exported textiles and allied products to Saudi Arabia worth $ 510.39 million. In February 2025, prominent Saudi companies participated in the BHARAT Tex 2025 held in New Delhi.

e) Agriculture : Saudi Arabia and India are enhancing collaboration in the area of agriculture and food security. The bilateral trade in agricultural products including Basmati Rice, Meat, Sugar etc., has been consistently increasing in the last few years. In 2020, the PIF - owned Saudi Agricultural & Livestock Investment Company (SALIC) acquired a 30% stake in Daawat Foods Ltd. through its subsidiary United Farmers Investment Company, for a value of $17.23 million. In 2022, SALIC purchased a 9.2% stake in LT Foods Limited totaling $44 million. Multiple Indian delegations have been participating in Saudi Food exhibitions including Saudi HORECA, Saudi Food Show, FoodEx etc. Similarly, several Saudi companies, Saudi Food and Drug Authority (SFDA) and Saudi Export Development Authority have also participated in the World Food India and Indus Food in recent years. LT Food, a leading Indian FMCG company, has opened its office in Riyadh in 2024. Over 100 Indian companies in the food and allied sector participated in the Saudi Food Manufacturing Show (April 2025) and Saudi Food Show (May 2025) held in Riyadh. 

f) Pharmaceuticals: The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is a major importer of pharmaceuticals with an estimated market size of approximately $7-8 billion. It is the largest regional market for pharmaceuticals and vaccines. In January 2024, Saudi Arabia announced the launch of the National Biotechnology Strategy as part of Saudi Vision 2030 which aims to develop the Kingdom as a hub for vaccine manufacturing and bio-manufacturing. India and Saudi Arabia signed an MOU in 2019 for Cooperation in the Field of Medical Products Regulations, which has recently been renewed for a further period of 5 years. COVID-19 provided an opportunity to enhance cooperation in this sector during which both nations supported each other by supplying vaccines and other medical products. 

Indian pharmaceutical companies such as Venus Remedies, Reddy Lab, MSN Lab, Aurbindo Pharma, Hetero Pharma and Glenmark Pharmaceuticals, etc. are already making some notable progress in the Kingdom. India’s pharmaceutical exports currently account for approximately 3-4 percent of the Saudi pharma market. The CEO of Saudi Food and Drug Authority (SFDA) visited India in November 2023 and October 2024. In August 2024, the Embassy of India in coordination with SFDA held a virtual Workshop for Indian pharma companies about the various regulatory and other relevant guidelines required for doing business in Saudi Arabia. India’s export of drugs and pharmaceutical to Saudi Arabia reached at US$ 211.37 million in 2024-25 with a significant rise of over 60% over last year.

g) Technology: There is significant scope for bilateral collaboration in the emerging technologies such as AI, Robotics, Cyber-security and Automation that constitute a keystone of Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030. Saudi Arabia is making heavy investments in areas such as Artificial Intelligence. All major Indian IT companies such as TCS, WIPRO, Tech Mahindra, HCL, LIT Mindtree have a strong presence in the Saudi market and are working closely with Saudi government and private sector entities. 

LEAP Tech is the annual flagship event of the Kingdom in the technology sector. Large number of Indian companies have been participating annually in this event including under the umbrella of NASSCOM and Electronics and Computer Software Export Promotion Council. ACES, Saudi Arabia’s leading International Neutral Digital Infrastructure company, signed a contract with Mumbai Metro Railways Corporation in Riyadh at LEAP-2024 for providing telecom infrastructure services. Indian companies under Data Security Council of India participated in the Black Hat MEA held in Riyadh in November 2024. Many Indian startups in the area of Cyber Security, Deep-tech and AI are exploring opportunities in the Saudi market. 

h) Defense: Defense is an area of deepening cooperation between India and Saudi Arabia. A number of Indian companies in the defense sector participated in the the World Defense Show held in Riyadh in February 2024, during which Munitions India Limited signed a contract worth $ 225 Million for supply of artillery ammunition to Saudi Arabia through its partner, Nadrah Company. On 28 November 2024, a seminar on the India–Saudi Defence Industry was organized by Embassy in collaboration with Society of Indian Defence Manufacturers (SIDM) and other stakeholders in Riyadh to strengthen defense cooperation and expand business opportunities for the Indian defence industry in Saudi Arabia. A number of Indian defense companies, representatives from Ministry of Defence, Saudi Ministry of Defence and General Authority for Military Industries, Saudi Arabia participated in the event. 

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June 2025

Annexure I: Recent Ministerial Level Visits: