Venezuela eyes deeper ties with India in critical minerals

Venezuela has expressed interest in expanding cooperation with India in the critical minerals sector and attracting Indian investments, the commerce ministry said on Saturday.

The interest was conveyed during a meeting between Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal and Venezuela’s Minister of Ecological Mining Development, Héctor Silva, in New Delhi.

According to the ministry, the Venezuelan side said it aims to broaden economic engagement with India beyond the oil sector, including collaboration in critical minerals and investment opportunities.

Goyal emphasised the need to revive the India–Venezuela Joint Committee Mechanism, which last met a decade ago. He said ONGC’s ongoing operations in Venezuela offer scope for deeper collaboration in mining and exploration.

He also suggested that Venezuela may consider accepting the Indian Pharmacopeia to ease pharmaceutical trade and noted potential areas of cooperation in the automobile sector.

In a separate statement, the ministry said the National Industrial Corridor Development Corporation Limited, Logistics Data Services Limited, and the Andhra Pradesh government have signed an MoU to digitise the state’s logistics ecosystem using the Unified Logistics Interface Platform (ULIP).

The initiative will create an integrated digital platform to provide government and private stakeholders with real-time visibility of logistics operations and performance metrics in Andhra Pradesh.

The platform aims to improve coordination, enhance efficiency and support data-driven decision-making across sectors.