Saudi Arabia is working on a deep sea cable project to link India to create a renewable energy grid between the Middle East and the South Asian country.
The cross-country project will be among the discussion agenda when Saudi energy minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman visits New Delhi on a day-long visit on Friday, The Economic Times reported, quoting unnamed sources.
The Saudi minister is visiting Delhi to prepare the ground for Saudi Prime Minister and Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman’s proposed visit to India next month.
India will be the first stop for the Saudi Crown Prince’s forthcoming trip, which will also take him to Indonesia, South Korea and Japan.
During the Saudi energy minister’s visit, the two sides are expected to initiate discussions on the commercial viability of the deep sea cable project.
The project is proposed to be connected to western coast in Gujarat from the Gulf coast.
If India agrees, the Abu Dhabi government could also join the ambitious deep sea energy project, the Economic Times report said.
Industry analysts in India estimated the project to cost between $15 billion and $18 billion.
The Saudi Arabian ambassador to India is understood to have sought views of some of the Indian conglomerates such as the Tata Group, Reliance Group and Adani Group on the proposed project.
The distance between the Gujarat coast to the emirate of Fujairah across the Arabian Sea is about 1,600 km.
Alternatively, the cable could also go via Oman which will have a reduced distance of 1,200 km.
Petroleum and natural gas industry officials conducted a feasibility study on such a project three years ago, but the project gained momentum of late, with India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi pushing the International Solar Alliance on it, the paper report said.
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