Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Dharmendra Pradhan met Prime Minister of Mauritius, Pravind Jugnauth, who was on a two-day visit to India for bilateral meeting.
During the meeting both the leaders discussed the strong and ongoing engagement with Mauritius in the hydrocarbon sector. Since 2006, Mangalore Refineries and Petrochemicals Ltd (MRPL), India’s PSU refinery, has been supplying petroleum products to Mauritius.
Both countries are presently working towards further deepening the engagement in the oil and gas sector. Both also discussed on the bunkering and oil jetty projects that are being jointly taken up by MRPL, Indian Oil Corporation along with State Trading Corporation of Mauritius (STCM). Both discussed on cooperation in the Natural Gas sector in Mauritius. In this regard, they decided that a delegation from Petronet LNG Ltd (PLL) will visit Mauritius at the earliest to have detailed discussion with authorities and stake holders in Mauritius.
Mauritius, under its ‘Vision 2030’, wants to develop as a regional hydrocarbons trading hub. During the meeting, Mr Pradhan conveyed India’s continued support to Mauritius in meeting its energy requirement and also expressed India’s commitment in Mauritius becoming a regional petroleum hub, through requisite oil and gas sector infrastructure development.
It is the first overseas visit of Prime Minister Jagnauth to India following his taking over the office as PM of Mauritius in January 2017.