Venezuela shows interest in expanding critical minerals cooperation with India

Venezuela has expressed a strong interest in deepening its partnership with India in the critical minerals sector and attracting Indian investments, the Commerce Ministry said on Saturday.

The discussion took place during a meeting in Visakhapatnam between Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal and Venezuela’s Minister of Ecological Mining Development Hector Silva.

The ministry said, “During the meeting, the Venezuelan side expressed interest in expanding economic engagement with India beyond the oil sector, including cooperation in critical minerals and attracting Indian investment.”

Goyal called for reactivating the India-Venezuela Joint Committee Mechanism. The last meeting under the mechanism was held ten years ago. He also noted the ongoing operations of ONGC in Venezuela and said the work offers opportunities for deeper collaboration in mining and exploration.

Goyal suggested that Venezuela may consider accepting the Indian Pharmacopeia to ease pharmaceutical trade. He also pointed out possible areas of cooperation in the automobile sector.

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

Under the initiative, an integrated digital platform will be created to give government and private sector stakeholders real-time visibility into logistics operations and performance indicators across Andhra Pradesh. The platform aims to improve coordination, increase efficiency, and support better decision-making by offering seamless access to real-time data.