Jayanta Roy Chowdhury
New Delhi, Feb 11 (.) Muscat is seeking to replicate the success of its plastics cluster by inviting Indian investors to participate in a newly planned aluminium processing zone, positioning the initiative within a rapidly expanding India–Oman economic partnership.
Mundhar Al-Rawahi, who heads the Ladayn programme that will anchor the new industrial cluster, told . that Oman aims to create a “complete ecosystem” around aluminium, building on its experience in downstream conversion industries and wants Indian investors to buy in with investments.
Three years ago, Oman launched a plastics development zone that has since attracted 28 signed projects. Some ten projects are producing or are nearing production, and the remainder are in various stages of development, the Omani official said.
“The idea is to replicate this model in aluminium,” Al-Rawahi said, outlining plans to leverage Oman’s aluminium smelters as the primary downstream supplier to the zone. “The new cluster will focus on value-added processing and manufacturing rather than raw material exports,” he added.
The aluminium push comes at a time when bilateral investment flows between India and Oman have tripled to $5 billion since 2020, with metals manufacturing, alongside green steel and ammonia, emerging as a central pillar of cooperation.
Oman, which has close defence cooperation with India, is also believed to be discussing cooperation in strategic areas such as space, rare earth minerals, and cybersecurity, according to Indian officials.
The proposed zone under the Ladayn programme builds on this close cooperation. Oman believes Indian firms can leverage its established aluminium infrastructure for downstream processing and increasingly for green production, as both countries align industrial strategies with sustainability targets.
Oman’s pitch to Indian investors rests on structural advantages, said Al-Rawahi. “We have political stability, competitively priced industrial land, relatively low electricity costs, critical for energy-intensive aluminium processing, and strategic geography located between Europe and Asia,” he pointed out.
The country has long served as a logistics hub in the Arabian Sea–Gulf nexus, offering Indian manufacturers access not only to Gulf markets but also to Europe and Africa.
Trade dynamics further strengthen the case. Bilateral trade reached $10.5 billion in 2024–25, with aluminium value chains becoming an increasingly important component.
The recently signed India–Oman Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) provides an additional boost. Under the agreement, Oman has granted near-universal zero-duty access, replacing earlier Most Favoured Nation tariffs of 0–5per cent.
The CEPA framework helps strengthen industrial collaboration, particularly in joint ventures targeting Gulf, European and African markets.
“The new aluminium zone already has an Indian partner, Multi-Bond Metal will be signing today, signalling early commitment from India’s manufacturing sector,” Al-Rawahi said.
Major Indian companies, including Jindal, IFFCO and Kribhco, already operate in Oman across sectors, underscoring the depth of bilateral commercial ties.
For Oman, the strategy reflects a broader shift toward conversion industries built around resources—plastics, aluminium, steel and, later, other resource-linked sectors as opposed to just exporting raw commodities, or hydrocarbons. . JRC .
