Post the UAE-India Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement, there has been a rise in interest from UAE companies, largely from infrastructure companies, says the top executive of a UAE bank. He added that Indian exporters are increasingly looking at the UAE as a region to expand in other markets.
Sharad Agarwal, CEO of Emirates NBD India told CNBC-TV18, “As a bank, we cater to all kinds of companies, whether it is coming from UAE or its Indian corporates. So, we are agnostic. We are only catering to the UAE segment. We are running close to a billion-dollar balance sheet. So that's the size of growth and we are pretty much happy with the start. We are still very small compared to any other banks in India.”
Recently, Ducab India, part of the
Ducab Group, one of the biggest end-to-end energy solutions providers and manufacturing firms in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), has signed its first bilateral partnership with Emirates NBD India. Through the partnership, the Ducab Group is looking at a continued expansion of its wires, cables and metal solutions in India. Commenting on the partnership, Agarwal said, “Post the agreement, UAE businesses are increasingly looking at entering the Indian market.”
He added, “If you see after the signing of the agreement, a lot of good corporations from UAE which are into quality products can set up shops in India. Due to reduced tariffs, these companies can trade or export from the UAE market. A lot of infrastructure-related companies are coming big time in India.”
He believes this is because of the various SOPs and even
the PLI schemes, which have been given from India. “In the case of Indian companies, it's mostly the exporters who want to approach and target the wider market segment in the Middle East, Africa and Turkey that are moving to the UAE. It’s mostly the manufacturing segment.”
Through the recent partnership, Emirates NBD will be supporting the working capital and capex expansion plans of Ducab in India. It will assist Ducab in financing local projects through its strong project financing experience in multiple dimensions.
The agreement is in line with the UAE’s strategy to continuously diversify the national economy and increase non-oil trade with international commercial partners.
India consistently ranks among the UAE’s largest global trade partners, with
India-UAE bilateral trade currently valued at around $73 billion.
