“Our oil is described as light and sweet. It is one of the best quality crude oil.”

With that Dharamkumar Seeraj, Guyana’s high commissioner to India, made a pitch for his country supplying oil to India.

“Today our production has moved very quickly upwards and we are now producing about 800,000 barrels per day, moving from zero in 2019,” he said.

Oil Production Surges

Perched at the northern tip of South America, Guyana is hardly close. Yet as India diversifies its energy sources, Guyana with its Indian diaspora numbering over 300,000 and politically stable, could emerge as a reliable oil supplier to India. In recent years India has bought about four million barrels.

“We are auctioning off oil blocks and we hope that Indian companies will bid for these blocks because we want as diversified as possible players in the oil and gas sector,” he said.

“If Indian companies and even if the Government of India bid for these blocks, we would very much welcome their participation in exploration and drilling and ultimately the production of oil and gas.”

Beyond Oil: Minerals and Infrastructure

Guyana is rich in mineral resources, including bauxite, gold and diamonds. He said Indian demand for Guyanese bauxite is already strong, but production capacity remains a challenge.   India could help Guyana move up the value chain in gold and diamond processing.

Seeraj is keen that Indian firms enter the infrastructure construction business, pointing to the World Cup cricket stadium.

“I think only an Indian company could have been able to complete the stadium in time for Guyana to be part of CARICOM countries hosting the World Cup.”

“We have companies building roads. We have Kalpataru doing our energy infrastructure, totally upgrading and rehabilitating our electricity distribution and transmission network,” he said.  “We have moved from cricket stadium sports infrastructure to transportation infrastructure to energy infrastructure, health infrastructure.”

He revealed that the two countries set a global record on May 26, 2026, for the world’s longest-distance telesurgery.  The procedure involved an Indian surgeon operating from Georgetown, Guyana, while the patient was located nearly 20,000 kilometres away in Indore, India.

“All equipment used were Indian-made robotics, telecommunication intervention, Indian surgeon, Indian patient.”

According to Seeraj, India supplies the overwhelming majority of Guyana’s pharmaceutical imports.

“I would say about 75 to 80 percent of all of our pharmaceuticals that we import, we import from India.  It’s an area that is very competitive for us because of the price and also because of the quality.”

Guyana is now pursuing a broader vision of becoming a regional healthcare destination, attracting patients from across the Caribbean, Latin America and beyond by combining modern healthcare infrastructure with affordable treatment.

Seeraj lauded India’s Unified Payments Interface and the ease with which even small vendors conduct digital transactions. Guyana is now working with Indian partners to build its own digital payment ecosystem.

Defence has emerged as another area of growing cooperation. Guyana recently acquired two Dornier aircraft from India, while also drawing on a $100 million defence line of credit. “We have drawn down about 40 or 45 percent of it already.”

Future priorities include border monitoring, maritime surveillance and enhanced security capabilities.

“We have porous borders and all of that. So, I think one of the priority areas is to enhance our ability to monitor our borders.”

Record-Breaking India-Guyana Medical Collaboration

The High Commissioner expects Indian defence companies to play a larger role in meeting Guyana’s evolving security requirements..”

“We want the same things. We stand for the same values. We put humanity first.”