NEW DELHI, March 4 (Xinhuanet) -- Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez Frias arrived here Friday for a four-day visit to India, the first by a Venezuelan head of state.

    Indian President A. P. J. Abdul Kalam and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh welcomed Chavez at a ceremonial reception at the forecourt of Rashtrapati Bhavan, the presidential palace. He laterlaid a wreath at Raj Ghat, the memorial for Mahatma Gandhi, the Indo-Asian News Service reported.

    Chavez, who is accompanied by the ministers of foreign affairs,light industry and commerce, science and technology, environment and natural resources, energy, health and information and communications, is also to visit Kolkata and Bangalore.

    The Venezuelan head of state is scheduled to meet with Kalam and Manmohan Singh Saturday. He is also to hold talks with Indian External Affairs Minister K. Natwar Singh and Petroleum Minister Mani Shankar Aiyar.

    India considers Venezuela, the world's fifth largest oil producer and an active member of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), as an alternative source of oil.

    The two countries have set up a Joint Working Group on Hydrocarbons that meets once a year to coordinate programs of cooperation in the hydrocarbons sector. Enditem