Development of industrial cooperation between Russia and India is a major instrument in increasing the trade turnover to $53 billion by 2025, Minister of Industry and Trade Denis Manturov said following his meeting with India’s Minister-Coordinator of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry Amitabh Kant on Sunday.
“Russia and India have many positive examples of bilateral cooperation, implementation of projects both in the civil and defense sectors,” Itar Tass quoted the website of the Russian ministry as saying.
“At the same time, the potential of the industrial cooperation is not used fully, and our objective is to fill it with new contents. We mean both traditional sectors of cooperation and mutually advantageous contacts in new spheres.”
Organization of engineering centers is one of promising directions, the Russian minister said.
During a visit to India on December 11-12, Russia’s President Vladimir Putin set the task to increase the trade turnover between Russia and India.
Joint Projects
“We’ve set an ambitious goal. In order to achieve it, we should develop joint projects which will include research and development, and not limit ourselves by supplies of our companies,” Manturov said Friday after a meeting with leaders of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI).
“Prospects for the development of infrastructure, particularly industrial infrastructure, are opened for joint projects,” he said.
“We also seek to develop the high tech sector. Our key task is to increase the number of joint ventures both in India and in Russia,” he said.
Among other directions of bilateral cooperation, he named “projects in the aeronautical industry, including for design and production of the fifth generation fighter jet and a multi-role transport aircraft”.
“Under our new projects, we seek to produce the Ka-226 helicopter in India. The helicopter can be used for military and civil purposes,” he said.
In 2013 trade turnover between Russia and India reached $10 billion.
Canceling Visas
Russian authorities are discussing abolition of visas for Indian businessmen and tourists, Denis Manturov added. Abolition of visas mainly for entrepreneurs and also for tourists was discussed, he said.
The minister did not say when visas would be abolished, saying it was under the jurisdiction of the Foreign Ministry and migration services. “We are interested to have progress in this and will provide possible assistance for the colleagues,” he said.
