Russia eyes investments in smart cities, railways, transport: Suresh Prabhu

Russia has expressed interest in investing in projects like Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC) and smart cities besides railways, and public transport, Commerce and Industry Minister Suresh Prabhu has said.

The minister also said that in the November 23 trilateral meeting on International North South Corridor (INSTC), all issues are expected to be resolved in order to operationalise the route as early as possible.

INSTC is an initiative taken by India, Russia and Iran to promote transportation cooperation and to enhance connectivity with central Asian countries.

It is the shortest multimodal transportation route linking the Indian Ocean and Persian Gulf via Iran to Russia and North Europe.

The estimated capacity of the corridor is 20-30 million tonne of goods per year and will reduce time and cost by 30- 40 per cent.

These issues were discussed during the meeting of Prabhu and Russian business delegation on Saturday here.

"There is a possibility for Russian investments in DMIC, smart cities, railways, public transport, sanitation and low-cost housing," the ministry said in a statement quoting Prabhu.

He also said Russia can be a valuable market in information technology and other services sector.

The minister said to facilitate Russian investments in India, the ministry has set up a single window mechanism - Russia Plus.

Russia has invested $1.2 billion in India between 2000 and 2017.

The key areas of Russian investments have been oil and gas, defence equipment supplies, power and large-scale infrastructure project.

Although Russia is a primary source of defence equipment supply to India, he said ample opportunities have further opened up for both countries with the opening of FDI in defence production.

"Russian companies may consider investing in a dedicated industrial park for defence manufacturing under the new norms to supply parts to helicopters, nuclear reactors and solar panels," he added.