Union Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas Hardeep Singh Puri visited Mauritius on August 20-21, 2026, during which India and Mauritius signed a government-to-government (G2G) memorandum of understanding (MoU) on oil and gas cooperation, according to a Press Information Bureau (PIB) release.
Alongside the MoU, Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL) and the State Trading Corporation (STC) of Mauritius signed a long-term sales and purchase agreement for supply of petroleum products, under which IOCL will meet Mauritius’ entire import requirement of Motor Spirit (MS), High Speed Diesel (HSD) and Aviation Turbine Fuel (ATF), the release said.
The agreements were exchanged in the presence of Mauritius Prime Minister Navinchandra Ramgoolam, whom Puri called on during the visit. According to the release, the MoU institutionalises the two countries’ energy partnership, covering petroleum products supply, training and capacity building for Mauritian officials, and cooperation in biofuels.
The five-year IOCL-STC agreement is the first long-term supply agreement concluded by an Indian public sector oil marketing company outside South Asia in recent years, the release said, adding that it gives Mauritius security of supplies and insulation from price volatility.
Puri also held bilateral meetings with Mauritius’ Minister of Energy and Public Utilities Patrick Gervais Assirvaden, Minister of Commerce and Consumer Protection John Michaël Tzoun Sao Yeung Sik Yuen, and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Regional Integration and International Trade Dhananjay Ramful, according to the release. He also took part in the groundbreaking ceremony for a 27.5 thousand tonne (TMT) bunker marine fuel storage facility being set up by India Oil (Mauritius) Ltd at Mer Rouge, Port Louis.
The release said India has emerged as a major global refining hub with an annual output of 267 million metric tonnes (MMT) of refined petroleum products across 23 refineries, making it a net exporter of refined products. It already meets the full petroleum demand of Nepal and Bhutan and continued to honour these supply commitments even during the ongoing West Asia crisis, the release said, adding that the Mauritius agreement positions India as the country’s anchor fuel supplier and strengthens its strategic and economic footprint in the Indian Ocean region.
The MoU also provides for cooperation in biofuels through exchange of knowledge, research and training, according to the release. Mauritius is a founding member of the Global Biofuels Alliance (GBA), an initiative piloted by India and launched during its Group of 20 (G20) presidency, under which the GBA Secretariat has partnered with Mauritius’ Ministry of Energy and Public Utilities to develop a Biofuels Country Landscape Policy framework for the country.
Puri and Assirvaden jointly launched the Biofuels Country Landscape Policy framework on August 21, marking what the release described as a starting point for Mauritius in exploring its energy transition through biofuels.
