Russian sovereign wealth fund Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) on Monday signed a pact with State Bank of India (SBI) for setting up a $2 billion investment consortium for promoting investments between the two nations.
The RDIF and SBI would each invest up to $1 billion in the consortium, a statement issued by the Russian sovereign wealth fund said.
Long-term capital
The entities would team up to facilitate access to long-term capital in Russia and India and actively promote mutual investments.
RDIF CEO Kirill Dmitriev and SBI Chairman Pratip Chaudhuri signed the memorandum of understanding (MoU) here for establishing the consortium in the presence of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“Basically we are creating this platform that has capital allocated for high-return projects in interesting sectors, with synergy between India and Russia,” Mr. Dmitriev said.
The emphasis would be on projects geared towards higher purchasing power of the population, creation of value addition in the extraction and processing of natural resources as well as development of manufacturing businesses and service sector companies. “The co-investment consortium, given the government support, helps mitigate the risks that might arise from the global economic situation,’’ he said.
Mr. Chaudhuri said with the partnership, the bank would have access to interesting and attractive projects from an investment point of view.
