India to help fund Mauritian petroleum projects

India and Mauritius signed five pacts during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's recent visit to the island nation. India has offered a US$500 million concessional line of credit to Mauritius to help fund key infrastructure projects, including a petroleum storage facility. In return, Mauritius offered cooperation on information exchange on taxation.

The agreement follows an MoU between Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) and Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Limited (MRPL) to set up oil storage terminals in Mauritius, which was signed last year. The terminals are expected to boost petroleum product trade in the region and improve the supply of oil. Furthermore, the project will also help increase exports to different islands across the Indian Ocean, as well as to Africa.

The five pacts signed also included agreements for ocean economy, improvements to sea and air transportation facilities, cooperation in medicine and homoeopathy and a programme for cultural cooperation.

"I was pleased to offer a concessional line of credit of US$500 million for civil infrastructure projects for Mauritius. We intend to quickly build the petroleum storage and bunkering facility in Mauritius," Prime Minister Modi said at the signing. "I consider our security cooperation to be a cornerstone of our strategic partnership. Our agreement on cooperation in ocean economy is an important step in deepening our scientific and economic partnership.”

Edited from various sources by Rosalie Starling

Sources: Economic Times, SME Times, NDTV

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