India's engineering exports to Doha hit by Qatar crisis

NEW DELHI: India's engineering exports to Doha have been hit following sanctions imposed on Qatar by some nations including Saudi Arabia, EEPC India said today.

Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Bahrain are among few other countries that announced suspension of all ties to Qatar last week over state's alleged support for extremist groups and its political proximity to Shiite Iran.

Qatar however denies the allegations.

"Inputs from our engineering exporters indicate that shipping lines operating between India and Doha are keeping the containers on hold. A few such incidents have been reported from Jebel Ali and Krishnapatnam ports," EEPC India said.

The Engineering Export Promotion Council (EEPC) of India said shipments from India were being affected as the Middle East and West Asia trade has a lot of inter-operability between different ports, observing that the banking channels particularly in Doha and some other parts of the region have also been disrupted.

The Middle East and West Asia are one of the key destinations for Indian engineering exports, accounting for 13 per cent of the country's total engineering exports. Shipments worth USD 8.18 billion were destined for the countries in the region. India's major trading partners include the UAE, Oman and Saudi Arabia.

Expressing concern over these disruptions, EEPC India Chairman T S Bhasin said the Indian business and trade have a big stake in the region and it is important to keep a close eye on the fast changing situation there.

The engineering shipments to the region include products like iron and steel, non-ferrous metals, industrial and electrical machinery.