UAE Signals USD 25 Billion More Investment in India; Trade Target Set at USD 200 Billion by 2032
The 14th meeting of the India-UAE High Level Joint Task Force on Investments was held in Mumbai on 28 September 2026. It is co-chaired by India's Minister of Commerce and Industry and the Managing Director of the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA).
The UAE has already invested about USD 25 billion in India and is India's 7th largest source of foreign direct investment (FDI). It signalled an intent to invest another USD 25 billion in the near future, with a long-term goal of USD 100 billion in total.
The two sides set a target to double bilateral trade to USD 200 billion by 2032. Trade stood at USD 101.25 billion in 2025-26, above USD 100 billion for the second year in a row.
They agreed to deepen cooperation in ports, shipbuilding, space, food security, logistics, fintech (finance technology), artificial intelligence, startups and energy security. Six areas were proposed for shipping working groups: ship ownership, port development, shipbuilding, maintenance and repair, ship dismantling and container making.
Projects reviewed included a food park in Gujarat, branches of UAE banks and insurers in GIFT City, and progress on settling trade in local currencies (rupee and dirham). The India-UAE Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA), now four years old, is credited with helping double trade.
Sovereign Wealth Funds (SWFs)
A Sovereign Wealth Fund, or SWF, is a big investment fund owned by a country's government. The government puts extra national money into it, often earnings from oil or large trade surpluses. The fund then invests this money in shares, bonds, property and infrastructure around the world to earn returns for the long term. You can think of it as a family putting its extra savings into good investments so that its children and grandchildren also benefit.
Much of the UAE's investment in India flows through its sovereign wealth funds, and the Joint Task Force is itself co-chaired by the head of ADIA. The new intent to invest another USD 25 billion, and the goal of USD 100 billion overall, depend on UAE funds finding long-term projects in ports, logistics, energy and infrastructure.
India-UAE Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA)
The India-UAE CEPA is a trade deal that cuts or removes import taxes (customs duties) on goods traded between the two countries. It also opens up trade in services and sets common rules for trade. It was India's first comprehensive trade deal with a country in the Gulf region and was completed quickly, in under a year of formal talks.
Four years after it came into force, CEPA is credited with doubling India-UAE trade to over USD 100 billion. The new goal of USD 200 billion by 2032 builds on the lower tariffs and easier market access CEPA created.
Bilateral Investment Treaty (BIT) and India's Model BIT (2016)
A Bilateral Investment Treaty, or BIT, is an agreement between two countries to protect each other's investors. It promises fair treatment and protection from unfair seizure of property. If these promises are broken, the investor can take the host country to international arbitration. India rewrote its approach through a Model BIT in 2016, which gives more room to the host government to regulate.
The BIT gives UAE funds and companies legal certainty that their investments in India will be protected. That certainty matters when the UAE is signalling another USD 25 billion of investment and a long-term target of USD 100 billion.
- 14th meeting of the India-UAE High Level Joint Task Force on Investments: 28 September 2026, Mumbai
- The Task Force was set up in 2013; co-chaired by India's Commerce and Industry Minister and ADIA's Managing Director
- UAE investment in India so far: about USD 25 billion; new intent: another USD 25 billion; long-term goal: USD 100 billion
- UAE is India's 7th largest source of FDI
- Bilateral trade: USD 101.25 billion (2025-26); target USD 200 billion by 2032
- India-UAE CEPA: in force since 1 May 2022
- India-UAE BIT: in force since 31 August 2024
- Focus sectors: ports, shipbuilding, space, food security, logistics, fintech, AI, startups, energy security