Mongolia’s first oil refinery, built and funded with Indian assistance, will be completed by 2025, said the country’s Ambassador D.Ganbold. In an interview, he said the first stage of Mongol Oil Refinery, built with a USD 1.2 billion Indian soft loan, will be completed at the end of this year.

The development comes with strategic implications as Mongolia is entirely dependent on Russia for its energy imports. The refinery, D.Ganbold said, would help Mongolia meet 70 percent of its demand domestically. Mongolia also hopes to attract Indian investment in its mining and metals, with plans to start shipping coking coal to India by 2024.

Mongolia also has key rare earth metals, which may be crucial to India’s ambitions to build cutting edge technological capabilities in semiconductors and green mobility.

Since the historic visit of Prime Minister Modi in 2015. an agreement between the governments was made to establish the first oil refinery in Mongolia. Now this refinery project is under full swing and consists of four packages. The first package, or EPC 1, is more than 70% complete right now and will be done within this year. The remaining three packages have gone through the tender process and Megha Engineering and Infrastructures Limited, a Hyderabad- based company, has been selected. The refinery will give us more independence and energy security.