India plans investment roadmap with UAE for disinvestment, monetisation

On Saturday, India and the UAE discussed the possibility of increasing the number of flights under the air bubble agreement, as well as developing a solid investment roadmap for the coming months, with investors showing interest in the government's disinvestment and monetisation plans.

After a meeting of the UAE-India high-level Joint Task Force on Investments, commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal said that the joint task force will offer a common platform for continuous dialogue to remove bottlenecks that may arise from time to time and look at new opportunities.

The minister, who also met with DP World and the Abu Dhabi Funding Authority, said that UAE-based entities have progressed past some of the legacy issues, such as Etisalat's exit after the Supreme Courtroom cancelled the two G licences and issues faced by Emaar, the real estate giant.

They've put the past behind them and are focusing on the future.

Some of the companies he met suggested that the projects offered in the monetisation programme for sectors like roads be large, while also expressing interest in the railways and logistics segments, according to the minister.

According to the minister, some suggestions have been made to reduce logistics costs by 0.5 to 1 percentage point, noting that logistics costs in India totalled 13%, compared to 8-9% in other parts of the world.

According to Goyal, the RBI has granted Emirates NBD Financial Bank permission to open two branches across the country.

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