India, Russia sign MoU for funding of hydro-generation projects

BRICS initiative is already seeing practical negotiations on specific projects, says RDIF Director General

In a significant step in economic cooperation, Russia's Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) today signed an MoU with India's Infrastructure Development Finance Company (IDFC) for funding of hydro-generation projects.

RDIF Director General Kirill Dmitriev told the BRICS Business Council meeting here that his company signed an MoU with its partners in the BRICS member-states to work with sovereign funds, with the BRICS Bank and invest in the equity of infrastructure projects in these countries.

"We have signed an MoU with five funds from our five countries: the Russian Direct Investment Fund, the Silk Road Fund from China, the IDFC (Infrastructure Development Finance Company) from India, the Development Bank of South Africa and the Brazil BTG Pactual fund," he said.

"With the IDFC in India, we discussed projects in hydro-generation where Russia has a lot of expertise," Russian news agency Tass quoted him as saying.

"The BRICS Bank will be doing a lot of debt providing, while the IFI (Infrastructure Fund Initiative) will be investing in equity," Dmitriev said.

Highlighting cooperation with India and China, he said, the BRICS initiative is already seeing practical negotiations on specific projects.

Dmitriev said the funds are forming together the IFI to work with sovereign funds, with the BRICS bank and invest in the equity of infrastructure projects.