Putin praises India's support for SMEs through 'Make In India' initiative

Russian President Vladimir Putin lauded the Indian government and its leadership for its efforts in creating "stable conditions" for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), highlighting India's economic initiatives, particularly the "Make in India" initiative led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Addressing the VTB Investment Forum in Moscow on Wednesday, Putin drew similarities between Russia's import substitution program to India's "Make in India" initiative and expressed Russia's readiness to establish manufacturing operations in India. Putin also noted that India's leadership focused on a policy of prioritizing its interests.

"Prime Minister Modi has a similar program called Make in India. We are also ready to place our manufacturing site in India... The Prime Minister of India and the Government of India have been creating stable conditions and this is because the Indian leadership has been pursuing India comes first policy and we believe that investments in India are profitable," the Russian President said.

Putin also emphasised the relevance of Russia's import substitution program in the context of BRICS's shift for the growth of SMEs and the need for a fast dispute redressal forum for the comfortable dealing of SMEs in BRICS+ countries.

He noted the emergence of new Russian brands that are replacing Western brands that have exited the market and pointed out the success of local Russian manufacturers in sectors such as consumer goods, IT, high-tech, and agriculture.

"For us, it has special relevance as part of the import substitution program, we advent of new Russian brands entering our market, which are replacing the brands by Western partners who have voluntarily left our market. And our local manufacturers have been quite successful not only in consumer goods but also in IT and high tech," he said.

"In agriculture, the number of our manufacturers and producers keeps growing. In 1988, the Soviet Union imported grain for USD 35 billion, and last year, we exported grain to the tune of USD 66 billion, and this is largely the merit of our farmers and producers. And in all these sectors of the Russian Federation, including high-tech ones, there is an acute need to expand opportunities to sell and export products," Putin said.

Putin further called for enhanced collaboration among BRICS nations for the growth of SMEs and called on the member nations to assess key areas for collaboration during the upcoming summit in Brazil next year.

"I would ask colleagues of the BRICS corporation to analyse the situation on the main areas of cooperation, and we will definitely draw the attention of Brazilian colleagues who will chair BRICS next year," he added.