Russia-India trade relations achieved some great milestones following St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF) held on June 1-3, in accordance with the decision of the President of the Russian Federation. In an interview with The Economic Times, Russian Industry and Trade Minister Denis Manturov said that Russia is inviting Indian investors to participate in Eastern Siberia’s “Aluminium Valley” project.

This year, India was a partner-country of SPIEF and Prime Minister Narendra Modi was invited as the honoured guest for the plenary session. In June 1st Modi-Putin Summit, the two leaders laid down an important roadmap for lifting bilateral economic partnership across areas, never considered in the past. The challenge, however, would be to translate this roadmap into action so that the ties can be upgraded to the next level.

Manturov said that both the sides have jointly identified 19 projects and a new “investment protection pact" in the roadmap. The projects encompass transport infrastructure, aircraft and automobile construction, new technologies in pharmaceuticals, agriculture, and diamond extraction.

ALUMINIUM VALLEY: PROJECT CONCEPT 

Source: US RUSAL

In aircraft construction, India’s procurement of Russian civil aircraft, including the Sukhoi Superjet-100 aircraft, stands out as a promising venture. “By 2029, India’s internal airlines will expand to 250 aircraft,” Manturov noted.

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About the “Aluminium Valley” project in Eastern Siberia, Manturov said, “This will be a special economic zone in the Krasnoyarsk region. In mid-March, I was in Chennai, where during my talks with my Indian counterpart Nirmala Sitharaman, we reached an agreement on the establishment of a Subgroup on Cooperation in the Aluminium Industry As of today, we are waiting for India to respond to the proposals on the subject and composition of the subgroup.”