The first oil refinery in Mongolia is due to be constructed with the assistance and financing of India and open by 2025, with its first advances expected to be completed by the end of this year, according to Mongolia’s Ambassador to India Dambajav Gandbold.
"The first oil refinery in Mongolia - built and financed with the assistance of India - will be completed by 2025," Gandbold said, adding that the refinery is expected to give Mongolia more "independence and energy security" as the country relies entirely on imported energy resources from Russia.
He also said that the agreement to establish the first oil refinery in Mongolia was reached between the governments after a historic visit by the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2015. The oil refinery project is now in the implementation stage and consists of four packages, with the first package, known as "EPC 1" already over 70% complete and expected to be ready by the end of this year.
The other three packages underwent a tender process where the company Megha Engineering and Infrastructures Limited based in Hyderabad was selected.
He clarified that the first package of the Mongolian oil refinery, built with a $1.2 billion Indian concessional credit, is set to be completed by the end of the year. Gandbold also revealed Mongolia’s plan to start exporting coking coal to India by 2024 and expressed his desire to establish joint ventures with India for the extraction of rare earth materials.
"We had substantive negotiations on the supply of Mongolian coking coal to India. We are building a coal enrichment facility and as soon as it is completed by 2024, we will begin exporting it to India. Mongolia has vast deposits of rare earth elements. I would like Indian investors to establish joint ventures in Mongolia, as the Indian government has announced that it will manufacture semiconductors within the country, rather than importing them from China," noted the ambassador.
The ambassador added that Mongolia perceives India as one of the three crucial neighbors in the region: as it shares borders with two major regional players – Russia and China, Mongolia "needs contacts with a third neighbor to balance regional powers. This can help Mongolia to develop and expand cooperation not only in the region, but also at the international level.