India pledges US$680m economic package for Mauritius

Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi and Prime Minister of Mauritius Navinchandra Ramgoolam. Photo source: X/@narendramodi

India has unveiled US$680m in economic assistance to Mauritius for projects spanning infrastructure, healthcare and maritime security. The package, comprising grants and concessional loans, was announced following talks in Varanasi between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Mauritian counterpart Navin Ramgoolam.

About 70% of Mauritius’s 1.2m population is of Indian origin, creating strong cultural ties. But the relationship has moved beyond people-to-people links and is now a central pillar of New Delhi’s Indo-Pacific strategy. The Indian Ocean has become a contested arena where China has expanded its footprint through port acquisitions, military partnerships and dual-use infrastructure in countries such as Myanmar, Sri Lanka, the Maldives, Pakistan and Djibouti. By deepening its partnership with Mauritius, India is seeking to protect its interests in the Indian Ocean and counterbalance Beijing’s growing presence.

India has undertaken to upgrade key infrastructure in Mauritius, including the port in the capital, Port Louis; the international airport; and the road network. It also committed to strengthening the security of Mauritius’s Exclusive Economic Zone – a 2.3m sq km expanse in the south-west Indian Ocean that, beyond fishing and seafood, holds potential for renewable energy projects as well as underexplored mineral and hydrocarbon deposits.

Modi said both nations shared a priority of maintaining “a free, open, secure, stable and prosperous Indian Ocean”. He noted that a Mauritius coastguard vessel is undergoing refitting in India and that 120 Mauritian officers are being trained there. On Mauritius’s remote Agaléga island, India has already built an airstrip and jetty to reinforce its military presence in the region.

New Delhi also pledged to help monitor the Chagos Archipelago, a group of small islands in the central Indian Ocean roughly 1,500km south of India’s tip. The islands have long been at the centre of a sovereignty dispute between Mauritius and the UK. Britain has controlled the territory since 1814 and in 1965 separated the islands from Mauritius to create the British Indian Ocean Territory. In the early 1970s, about 1,500 residents were evicted to make way for the Diego Garcia airbase, now a key US-UK military facility. London has recently agreed to transfer sovereignty of the islands to Mauritius while retaining control of the military base under a 99-year lease.

India is backing energy initiatives such as the development of a 17.5MW floating solar power plant at Tamarind Falls in southwest Mauritius. A team from Indian state-owned power company NTPC is due to visit the country soon to finalise an agreement with the Central Electricity Board. India is also supplying 100 electric buses, 10 of which have already been delivered.

In healthcare, India has pledged to build a 500-bed hospital, a veterinary school and animal hospital, and an AYUSH centre specialising in traditional Indian medicine. In addition, Mauritius now hosts the first overseas branch of India’s Jan Aushadhi Kendra programme, a network of state-run pharmacies that sell low-cost generic medicines.

On trade, the two governments agreed to begin settling some transactions in local currencies. In the financial year that ended in 2024, India exported US$778m worth of goods to Mauritius, while imports from the island nation amounted to US$73m. As a member of the African Continental Free Trade Area, Mauritius provides India with a bridge to wider African markets.

 

References

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