Putin visit: SBI, Russian fund ink pact for $2-bn investment consortium

Sistema arm signs two deals - with BSNL/MTNL, TCS

Defence agreements for Mi-17, Su-30 MKI aircraft signed : India’s Elder, Russia’s Pharm Eco to collaborate in pharma sector

Russian President Vladimir Putin’s short visit to India on Monday saw considerable headway on a few contentious issues, while new ground was broken with the creation of a $2-billion consortium to promote investment between Russian Sovereign Wealth Fund and State Bank of India (SBI).

The agreement for setting up of the consortium was signed between SBI Chairman Pratip Choudhury and Kirill Dmitriev, director-general of the Russia Foundation for Direct Investments.

Some mutual adjustments are also expected to have been made between the Indian government and Russian telco Sistema, the telecom licence of whose joint venture Sistema Shyam TeleServices Ltd was cancelled following a Supreme Court order earlier this year. Since then, the telecom company has repeatedly threatened arbitration but no proceedings have begun yet. Navigation Information Systems (NIS), a subsidiary of Sistema, in which the Russian government holds 17 per cent stake, on Monday signed two deals — one with BSNL/MTNL to assess the usage of the Russian Global Navigation Satellite System (Glonass, the Russian equivalent of GPS) using the Indian telecom PSUs’ infra capabilities; and another with Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) to strengthen technology partner relations in software development, systems integration, professional services for and marketing of NIS products.

Initially only as a pilot project, the NIS-BSNL venture might later go on to provide insights for wider applicability of Glonass signals in areas such as disaster management, telephony and long-distance communication.

Besides, defence agreements to provide Mi-17 helicopters and Su-30 MKI aircraft were also signed between the two sides.

The two sides, after considerable discussion on energy cooperation, also renewed their commitment to build additional nuclear power plant units at Kudankulam, said a joint statement. This indicates there has been no satisfactory conclusion to the discussions on cost escalation as a result of the nuclear liability law.

India once again pointedly flagged its interest in equity participation through ONGC-OVL in existing and new projects in Siberia, Russia’s far-east and the Arctic shelf. Indian Oil PSUs expressed interest in acquiring equity stake in discovered/producing assets and in proposed LNG liquefaction projects along with Russian oil and gas firms in that country, besides procuring Russian crude oil. However, the knotty issue of tax breaks to OVL’s Imperial Energy reserves remained unresolved.

An agreement was also signed between pharma major Mumbai-based Elder Pharma and Russia’s Pharm Eco for collaboration in the pharmaceuticals sector.

External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid and Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov agreed on a protocol on foreign policy consultations. This is likely to address global developments, besides some in the region, especially in the run-up to the partial withdrawal of the International Security Assistance Force from Afghanistan.