Four-day State visit of Indian president started in Mauritius

India was the largest exporter of goods and services to Mauritius in 2007, 2008 and 2009 and 2010. According to the Central Statistics Office (CSO), in calendar year 2010 Mauritius imported goods and services worth $1.007 billion (c.i.f.), amounting to 22.3% of total imports by value, from India. Mauritius’ exports to India in 2010 were valued at $17.87 million (f.o.b.). 

Indian Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion, cumulative FDI equity inflows from Mauritius to India during the period April 2000-January 2011 amounted to $53.369 billion, amounting to 41.9% of the total FDI into India over this period.

Mauritius was the single largest source of FDI into India during the financial year 2009-10, with inflows from Mauritius to India amounting to $10.376 billion or 40.16% of total inflows during the period. India was the second largest source of FDI for Mauritius in 2010 with a total of $101 million.

Until 1997, the total credit extended by India to Mauritius amounted to Rs65 crores (Mauritian Rs414.05 million at current rates). In 2000, India extended a $9.5 million credit line. 

In 2001, India extended a credit line of $100 million for the development and promotion of ICT in Mauritius, a part of which was used for the construction of the Cyber-Tower at Ebene.

An amount of $7.5 million was extended to Mauritius (out of the balance remaining from the $100 million credit line for the ICT sector) for completion of the Swami Vivekananda International Conference Centre.

During the State visit of Prime Minister Dr. Navin Ramgoolam to India in October 2005, a credit line of $100 million was offered, including a grant component of 25%.

Over the past decades, bilateral economic cooperation between India and Mauritius has been characterised by various projects assisted by India in Mauritius. These projects include the Mahatma Gandhi Institute, Upadhyaya Training Centre, Jawaharlal Nehru Hospital, Subramania Bharati Eye Centre, Rajiv Gandhi Science Centre, Rabindranath Tagore Institute, Cybertower at Ebene and the Swami Vivekananda International Conference Centre.

The Indian government has also contributed to the training of Mauritian public officers under the Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation (ITEC) Programme. Information and communication technology has emerged as the most prominent and one of the fastest-growing areas of technical cooperation between India and Mauritius.

Some prominent Indian IT companies, such as INFOSYS, have established operations in Mauritius. Infosys has sponsored specialised training courses for Mauritian graduates at its campus in Mysore, who were then employed at Infosys, Mauritius. 

The Pan African e-Network Project was inaugurated on February 26, 2009 connecting Mauritius along with other African countries with India through a satellite and fibre-optic network for sharing India’s expertise in education and healthcare. The Cardiac Centre of the SSR National Hospital and the Mauritius College of the Air are connected to this project.

Local doctors and medical personnel have been attending Continual Medical Education (CME) sessions delivered by eminent medical specialists from various Super Specialty Hospitals in India on a regular basis since April 2009. Real Time Patient Consultations and offline case referrals are carried out between SSRN Hospital and Fortis Hospital, Noida.