India is planning to build undersea electricity transmission lines to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) at a cost of 900,000 million Indian rupees ($10.5 billion), local financial newspaper The Economic Times reported on Tuesday.

The report quoted the country’s Power Minister Manohar Lal Khattar as saying that joint venture agreements have already been signed with both Gulf nations, supporting India’s strategy to boost electricity exports.

The transmission line to Saudi Arabia is expected to cost INR 470,000 million ($5.5 billion), while the UAE project will require around INR 430,000 million ($5 billion), the report said.

It said each link will be designed to carry 2 gigawatts (GW) of electricity with the Saudi interconnection spanning approximately 1,400 kilometres, whereas the UAE link will extend 1,600 km.

(1 US Dollar = 85.50 Indian rupees)

(Writing by SA Kader; Editing by Anoop Menon)

(anoop.menon@lseg.com)

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