India, Azerbaijan discuss trade-economic ties

The economies of India and Azerbaijan are developing steadily, and the two states have potential for improving mutual trade turnover that reached $340 million in 2010, Indian Ambassador to Azerbaijan Debnath Show said on Thursday, Trend reports.

The ambassador said that the trade turnover in 2055-2066 was $50 million.

The Indian delegation plans to study prospects of further improvement of cooperation in export.

Azerbaijan and India established ties in 1992. They had the first session of the inter-government commission in 2009.

Azerbaijani Minister for Economic Development Samir Veliyev said that they hope to sign an agreement on protecting investments in the near future.

Debnath Show said that the main import product from Azerbaijan is oil, mainly for refineries. India imports 70% of energy carriers. The country needs more hydro carbons but delivery of Azerbaijani gas is a complicated and costly project, he said.

According to EIA, India has some 1 trillion cubic meters of gas reserves. Estimations say that India will need up to 113 billion cubic meters of gas annually in 2025, 132 billion cubic meters in 2030. The International Energy Agency says that India will need to import 18 billion cubic meters of gas in 2015, 40 billion in 2025, 52 billion in 2030.