India hopes to seal oil deal with UAE today to fill Mangalore reserves

Abu Dhabi's Crown Prince Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed al-Nahyan is the guest of honour on Republic Day

India hopes to conclude negotiations with the United Arab Emirates on Tuesday to fill its strategic oil reserves at Mangalore, in the southern state of Karnataka, a foreign ministry official said.

Abu Dhabi's Crown Prince Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed al-Nahyan is headed to India as a guest of honour to the annual Republic Day Parade in a warming of ties.

Oil-rich Abu Dhabi has been in discussions to finalise a deal to lease part of the country's crude oil storage facilities.

India, which imports about 80 per cent of its oil needs, is building emergency storage in vast underground caverns to hold some 36.87 million barrels of crude as it seeks to hedge against energy security risks.

Amar Sinha, Foreign Ministry official in charge of economic relations said the two sides were also expected to sign a pact between the UAE's sovereign wealth fund and India's National Investment and Infrastructure Fund.