India plans to buy up to one million tonnes per year of crude from Qatar for a state refiner and wants higher imports of LNG to boost ties with the Opec producer, India's oil minister said.

Mani Shankar Aiyar said crude oil would be imported by the Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Ltd (MRPL), a subsidiary of state-run exploration firm Oil and Natural Gas Corp.
"We have agreed in principle that MRPL will pick up 0.5-1.0 million tonnes of Qatari crude. Commercial negotiations are to be initiated," Aiyar said.
"It's too early in the day to say what the (final) quantity is, what the quality is, what the time frame is, but in principle some crude as available from Qatar will be picked up for the MRPL refinery," he said, adding that the private sector was already buying crude from Qatar.
India had also sought higher LNG imports and invited Qatari firms to invest in LNG terminals and refineries in India, Aiyar said after meeting Qatar's Amir, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, and Deputy Prime Minister Sheikh Hamad Bin Jassem bin Jabor Al Thani.
India started importing LNG from the Middle East Gulf producer last year and plans to import five million tonnes this year.
"I have placed a proposal before his highness that by 2015 the five million tonnes we are buying today should become 20 million tonnes," Aiyar said.
Aiyar said Qatar could become India's most valued gas supplier just as Saudi Arabia was its most important crude oil supplier.
Energy-hungry India, which imports 70 per cent of its crude oil requirement and produces barely half the gas it needs, is seeking stakes in foreign oil and gas projects and taking steps to strengthen ties with large oil producers.
Qatar wants to strengthen trade and economic ties with India and is looking at deepening cooperation in oil and gas and petrochemicals with the world's third fastest growing economy.
"We look forward to deepening the cooperation between Qatar and India in the fields of oil, natural gas, petrochemicals, steel industry and other strategic industries that are important for our two countries," Qatar's ruler Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani said.
Indian firms are importing LNG and crude oil from Qatar and have plans to explore for oil and gas in the Gulf state.
Qatar wants to boost LNG exports to India and involve Indian firms in oil and gas exploration and setting up of petrochemical, fertiliser and steel plants.
"We also seek to encourage the Qatari private sector to participate in the stock market and direct investments in India," he said.