Russia Renews Bid For Iisco Modernisation Contract

Russia yesterday revived its bid to modernise the ailing public sector undertaking Indian Iron and Steel Company (IISCO), while the sides exchanged guidelines for using the rupee debt to fund Russian joint venture projects in India.

On the concluding day of the third bilateral joint commission in Moscow, Russian and Indian officials expressed satisfaction over the fact that negotiations for an 18-seater civilian airplane called the Saras-duet, between the National Aeronautics Laboratory and Myasichev design bureau, was at a fairly advanced stage.

We have noted the strong interest of the Russian side for modernisation of IISCO, an official spokesman of the ministry of external affairs said, adding, and we have agreed to consider processing this case.

 

External affairs minister I K Gujral and Russian first deputy prime minister Viktor Ilyushin signed an agreement on a joint shipping service between Novorossisk on the Black Sea and a designated port in India.

Indian officials stressed that Russia was keen on utilising the rupee debt to start joint venture projects in India, for example a Krasnoyarsk-based plant wants to manufacture silicon wafers. Indian officials confirmed that they had offered 10 per cent of the rupee fund for such utilisation to the Russians.

We must be clear about the fact that the money is theirs, they can do what they like with it. So if they want to use it to invest in India, thats fine with us, said one official.

An MoU on resolving certification problems in informatics was also initialled yesterday, with both sides hoping that with the reduction from 100 per cent to 75 per cent in value-added norms in high-technology Indian exports to Russia, trade would be significantly boosted in this sector. The joint commission reviewed the progress of the 10 working groups set up under the joint commission to propel bilateral relationship: coal, petroleum, information technology, trade & economic cooperation, shipping, culture, science & technology, pharmaceuticals, environmental protection and ferrous and non-ferrous metallurgy.

On coal, it was agreed to prepare a master plan for Talcher-Ib Valley coalfield, exchange technical information relating to hydraulic mining technology for Namdang and cooperate to evaluate mineral deposits. Russian officials voiced their interest in participating in the global tender for the second phase of the Jhanjhra coalfield.

Cooperation in the petroleum sector seemed to add a new dimension to the relationship: it has been decided to form joint venture projects between ONGC Videsh and Russian companies. With Zarubezhneft, ONGC will bid for third country projects, notably in the CIS countries. With Machinoexport, it will import machinery and tools for operation in India. Cooperation with Rosneft, including exploration, drilling, mining, processing, will be limited to Russia and Kazakhstan. ONGC Videsh has already bid for two sites in oil-rich Kazakhstan. Joining hands with one of Russias largest oil companies is likely now to give it greater impetus.

On pharmaceuticals, Indian drugs still hold about 25 per cent of the Russian market, down from 33 per cent a couple of years ago. A delegation from Moscow visited Delhi some six months ago and inspected Indian production facilities. This meeting looked at the possibility of establishing joint venture projects in this field.