Russia (bbabo.net), - Economic cooperation between Russia and India is developing, but so far its volume is much less than it could be, based on the potential of the strategic partnership between the two countries. This was stated in a communiqué following the summit between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The leaders noted that in order to reach the volume of mutual trade of $30 billion by 2025 - and such a goal was set earlier - it is necessary to actively develop trade and joint projects, as well as investment.

At the same time, at the moment, the dynamics of economic relations between the two countries is positive, despite the pandemic restrictions: in the first half of 2021, trade grew by 38 percent compared to the same period in 2020.

Many different working groups and commissions are now engaged in the development of economic relations between the two countries. In particular, the Intergovernmental Russian-Indian Commission on Trade, Economic, Scientific, Technical and Cultural Cooperation, which includes 12 working groups. New ones are also being created - for example, on transport and urban development. The Russian-Indian Strategic Economic Dialogue (RISED) deals with the same topic. Even during a pandemic, visits by high-ranking officials and big businessmen of the two countries do not stop.

Thus, in October 2021, the Minister of the Steel Industry of India visited Moscow to participate in the work of the Russian Energy Week in order to agree on the supply of coking coal and steel. As noted in the final document of the summit in New Delhi, during the visit "a memorandum of understanding was signed on the uninterrupted long-term supply of coal from Russia to India for steel production, and negotiations were held on the prospects for the production of special steel within the framework of the Indian government program to stimulate production and use of technologies of Russian state steel institutes for steel production in India by private and state companies". At the same time, Russia is interested in studying the Indian experience in the cost-effective use of coal residues.

Contacts have also been established between the countries in the field of oil production. In particular, NK Rosneft, together with a consortium of Indian oil and gas enterprises of the public sector, is implementing the Vankorneft, Sakhalin-1 and Taas-Yuryakh Neftegazodobycha projects in Russia and at the Nayara Eney Limited oil refinery in India.

Russia and India increase the volume of settlements in national currencies

In addition, Indian state-owned companies and Russian fertilizer producers signed an agreement of intent on the supply of fertilizers to India.

Interbank and insurance cooperation is also being strengthened. Pharmaceutical projects are also successfully moving forward. “Pharmaceutical trade remains one of the main components of Indian exports to Russia. Both sides noted with satisfaction the continued demand for this group of products, as well as the participation of Indian companies in the Russian localization program as part of the Pharma 2020 and Pharma 2030 strategies. The leaders of the two countries expressed their approval to strengthen cooperation in terms of the supply of medical devices as a promising new area of ​​​​economic cooperation in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic," the communiqué says.

Despite the pandemic, cooperation in the diamond sphere continues. Russia mines diamonds, which are then polished in India, where this industry is traditionally well developed.

At the summit, Russia and India discussed the need to remove trade barriers on critical commodities. There was also talk about optimizing customs clearance. In particular, it was decided to replace the Green Corridor project with an agreement on mutual recognition of authorized economic operators, as well as with the exchange and preliminary forwarding of customs data. Also in the final document of the summit it is said that it is necessary to start negotiations on free trade between the Eurasian Economic Union and India.

But, despite the successes achieved, the field for deepening cooperation in the economic sphere still remains very large. This is especially true for investments.

At the New Delhi summit, the leaders called on the two countries' departments to "complete negotiations on a bilateral intergovernmental agreement on the promotion and mutual protection of investment in the spirit of mutual understanding to protect mutual investment."

India is interested in the influx of Russian investments in various areas. For example, in shipbuilding and inland waterway development projects, in civil shipbuilding and training for it. In September 2021, an agreement of intent was already signed between the Zvezda shipbuilding complex and the Indian Mazagon Dock Limited regarding commercial shipbuilding.In addition, the Indian side invited Russian companies to participate in 13 key sectors of the Indian government's initiative to stimulate production under the "Self-Sufficient India" and "Make in India" programs. And also in New Delhi they would like the Russian side to take part in the joint construction of production facilities in industrial cities being built in India from scratch within the framework of the Indian government program of industrial corridors.

It should be noted that the parties are increasing the volume of settlements in national currencies. The use of Mir and RuPay cards in national payment infrastructures and in organizing interaction between the Unified Payment Interface system and the Bank of Russia Fast Payment System is discussed. The Russian side also invited Indian credit institutions to connect to the Financial Message Transmission System of the Bank of Russia in order to ensure uninterrupted interbank transactions.

Both India and Russia are interested in developing projects in the Far East. Energy, transport and logistics, maritime communications, diamond processing, forest management, pharmaceuticals and healthcare, tourism and humanitarian areas have been identified as priority areas for investment. The parties also intend to continue discussing the implementation of a $1 billion credit line for development projects in the Russian Far East. Earlier, Modi announced his intention to invest these funds in 2019.

The creation of the so-called energy bridge between the two countries is one of the large-scale cooperation projects. There is a "road map" for the development of cooperation in the field of hydrocarbons for 2019-2024.

The Indian Energy Center has already opened in Moscow with the participation of five oil and gas state companies of India. Its main task is to strengthen ties with Russian companies in the energy sector. A gas task force has also been set up to determine, among other things, which projects are most attractive for investments in gas infrastructure and gas distribution systems, as well as in the use of natural gas in transport and in the field of new fuels, including hydrogen.

Both India and Russia are interested in expanding cooperation and exchanging practices in hydro and thermal power, in the areas of energy efficiency and the use of renewable energy sources, in the hydrogen economy, and low-emission development.

Of course, the participation of investors in infrastructure projects is also interesting. For example, India would like to involve Russian specialists in signaling and telematics systems, high-speed railway projects, railway electrification, and all this taking into account the principles of the Indian programs “Make in India” and “Self-sufficient India”, which involve the localization of production. She is also interested in the Russian experience of an electronic system for tolling on motorways.

Great scope for joint work and investment suggests the international transport corridor "North - South". RZD Logistics and the Container Corporation of India (CONCOR) signed an agreement in 2020 on the joint development of multimodal cargo transportation services along this corridor.

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