Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Russian President Vladimir Putin. File
| Photo Credit: PTI

Russian President Vladimir Putin has hailed ‘Make in India’ initiative and the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led Government’s policies, saying companies are eager to set up manufacturing facilities in India as investments are profitable.

Speaking at the 15th Vneshtorgbank (VTB) Investment Forum in Moscow on Wednesday (December 4, 2024), Mr. Putin said that the initiative, which is aimed at boosting manufacturing and attracting foreign investment, has played a key role in strengthening India’s position in the global economy.

The ‘Make in India’ initiative was launched on September 25, 2014, to facilitate investment, foster innovation, build World-class infrastructure, and make India a hub for manufacturing, design, and innovation.

Mr. Putin said that India has created stable conditions for small and medium-sized enterprises while expressing Russia’s willingness to establish manufacturing operations in India, as investments in India are profitable.

“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.

“And we would be ready to place our manufacturing site in India. Also, the biggest investment in India in the economy to the tune of $20 billion by Rosneft happened not long ago,” he added.

Rosneft is the biggest oil producer company in the Russian Federation.

He mentioned that Russia’s import substitution programme is similar to India’s ‘Make in India’ initiative and noted that India’s leadership focused on a policy of prioritising its interests.

The president also urged for greater cooperation among Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa (BRICS) nations to support the growth of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises and encouraged member countries to identify key areas for collaboration at the upcoming summit in Brazil next year.

The nine-member BRICS bloc includes India, China, Russia, and Brazil.

Further, he noted the rise of new Russian brands replacing Western brands that have exited the market, noting 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 programme, we see the advent of many new Russian brands substituting the brand 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, high tech and agriculture,” he said.

He also offered to place Russian manufacturing sites in India.

India and Russia in July this year agreed to boost bilateral trade to over $100 billion by 2030 by reinvigorating investments, using national currencies for trade and increasing cooperation in sectors ranging from energy to agriculture and infrastructure.

The bilateral trade has increased to $65.42 billion in 2023-24 as against $49.4 billion in 2022-23. Trade gap is highly in the favour of Russia due to jump in crude oil imports.

From a market share of less than 1% in India’s import basket before the start of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, Russia’s share of India’s oil imports rose to over 40%.

India, the World’s third-largest crude importer after China and the United States, has been buying Russian oil that was available at a discount after some countries in the West shunned it as a means of punishing Moscow for the invasion of Ukraine.