India's ties with Chad, an oil-exporting country in central Africa, acquired a new dimension with the inauguration of a New Delhi-aided textile mill. The STT textile mill at Sarh was built with $25 million line of credit provided by the Indian government.

Indian oil firms are exploring fresh opportunities in the oil sector in Chad, Malawi, Niger, Angola and Mauritania.

Chad, rich in gold and uranium, became an oil-producing nation six years ago with the completion of a $4 billion pipeline linking oilfields in Africa's fifth largest country to terminals on the Atlantic coast.