British Columbia seeks closer ties on trade and resources with India

By Manoj Kumar

NEW DELHI, Jan 12 (Reuters) - British Columbia is seeking to deepen its commercial ties with India in sectors including liquefied natural gas, critical minerals, lumber and technology, the Canadian province's Premier David Eby said on Monday at the start of a six-day Indian visit.

Both countries are seeking to rebuild trade ties after a two-year freeze and to diversify their supply chains in reaction to U.S. tariffs.

"With unjustified tariffs from the U.S. impacting B.C. workers and businesses, it’s more important than ever to deepen strategic relationships with international partners," Eby said in an interview, adding India offered “enormous opportunities for trade".

His visit to India, which continues until Saturday, is expected to be followed by one from the Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, though the dates of that have yet to be made public.

Eby said his visit sought to build relationships with Indian companies "so that we're able to facilitate agreements and business relationships to create jobs for British Columbians and support India".

Contacted by Reuters, the Indian government declined to comment.

BUILDING MORE LIQUEFIED NATURAL GAS FACILITIES

British Columbia is expanding its liquefied natural gas production and has six facilities that are "either online, coming online, or reaching final investment decision in the next year", Eby said.

He said he is scheduled to meet with government and business leaders in Delhi, Mumbai, Chandigarh and Bangalore and to explore investments from Indian companies, as part of the province's target to attract $200 billion in investment in the next 10 years.

His delegation has already held meetings with state-run oil major Indian Oil IOC.NS, he said. The company has not commented.

Apart from collaborating on energy with India, the world's third-highest energy consumer, Canada is seeking new outlets for its lumber exports, which have fallen to the United States because of tariffs.

Eby said the province was looking to sell more wood to India’s growing construction and furniture markets.

Trade negotiations between Ottawa and New Delhi were put on hold in 2023 after Ottawa accused New Delhi of involvement in the killing of a Canadian Sikh separatist.

Talks on rebuilding trade ties are in early stages.