Qatar is playing ‘key role’ in India’s domestic growth and energy security, says top LuLu executive

On the back of robust bilateral relations, Qatar-India ties continue to strengthen across all sectors, a top official of LuLu Group has said, citing India as a “soon-to-become” $5tn economy and global powerhouse by 2024-2025.Speaking to Gulf Times on the sidelines of LuLu’s recent celebration of ‘India Utsav 2022’, which commemorates the 75th anniversary of India’s Independence Day, Dr Mohamed Althaf, director of LuLu Group International, noted that collaboration between Qatar and India has been benefiting both economies.“Qatar’s contribution to India’s domestic growth is also very huge, first, in terms of investment, and second, from an energy security perspective, Qatar is helping to fuel the fast-growing needs of India, so there’s a huge collaboration.“And we are very happy that LuLu is placed very comfortably between these two countries now both in terms of our reach and also in terms of our understanding of these two markets,” Althaf explained.He said India’s efforts to address the food security concerns of Qatar play a significant role in providing the needs of not only the Indian community here but also of Qatari citizens and other expatriate residents in the country.“India has increasingly become a major supplier, especially when there are extraordinary geopolitical crises, as well as logistics challenges. But India has emerged as a very reliable and very consistent supporter of the food security needs of Qatar and other countries in the region.“Access to the Qatari market has helped us mitigate a lot of other challenges that have happened in the region by supplying important commodities like grains, fruits, and vegetables from India,” Althaf pointed out.Compared to five years ago, Althaf noted that Qatar and India have also grown closer in terms of collaboration with the presence of more shipping routes. “This direct relationship between Qatar and India right now is helping us to enhance bilateral trade,” he emphasised.With less than 100 days to go for Qatar to host the 2022 FIFA World Cup, Althaf said he believes all the necessary preparations for the tournament “are actually done now,” adding that “there may be last minute minor adjustments that we have to make from our perspective.”“And I'm sure that most of the traders in the country and all the institutions are now ready to receive guests. We are very confident that LuLu is in a very good position to meet the food requirements of any nationality that will come here – whatever dietary preferences or restrictions they have, we are fully prepared.“We will always tell them that this is not only going to be a celebration of football, but at the same time, it is also going to be a celebration of the diversity and the kind of cuisines and food that we could offer to all our guests,” Althaf stressed.