Moscow warms up to AP, eyes investment options

Visakhapatnam: Russia highly values its relations with India and is always looking for further strengthening the bond in all areas of cooperation, said govenor of Chelyabinsk region Boris Dubrovsky.

Dubrovsky headed a 50-member

Russian delegation

that visited Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited (RINL) here on Friday. He later told the media that the visit would help the Russian delegation come up with new ideas and perspectives for further collaboration between the two countries in industrial development. He commended

RINL

highly for emerging as a strong industrial base in the country and expressed happiness over the fact that it was the then Soviet Union which played a major role in the construction of Vizag Steel Plant. He felicitated five steel plant employees as a token of appreciation for their contribution in RINL that furthered the development of commercial and economic relations between Chelyabinsk and Andhra Pradesh.

RINL chairman and managing director P Madhusudan said relations between New Delhi and Moscow were traditionally built on mutual trust and friendship and added that the establishment of Vizag Steel Plant with the Soviet co-operation and technology was a major landmark in the industrial development of India and particularly Visakhapatnam. The Chelyabinsk region is abundant with great mines and their mineral wealth offered a lot of opportunities for further prospects between the two nations, he added.

Earlier in the day, at a conference hosted by the AP Economic Development Board, the 50-member delegation from the Chelyabinsk region of Russia explored various investment options between the two countries. The members of the delegation were interested in heavy industry, agriculture, infrastructure, technology and growth corridors of Andhra Pradesh.

Dubrovsky said, “India and Russia and natural partners and I see Russia and India scaling up the volume of trade. India and Russia will gain in promoting the International North-South Transport Corridor which would reduce transit time by almost 40 per cent between India and Russia.”

Participating in the meeting, HRD minister Ganta Srinivasa Rao urged the Chelyabinsk region to forge partnerships, alliances and explore new participatory areas of cooperation.

J Krishna Kishore, chief executive officer of Andhra Pradesh Economic Development Board, said, “Andhra Pradesh and Chelyabinsk share similar synergies and linkages and are capable of transforming each other’s economies. The transformational journey of Chelyabinsk through rapid industrialization and economic upheaval has been exemplary and Andhra Pradesh is also on a high-growth trajectory.”

“This visit is important as India and Russia are celebrating 70 years of diplomatic ties and Chelyabinsk can complement Andhra Pradesh’s high-growth trajectory by cooperation in manufacturing and industrialization especially heavy industry, metallurgy and military industry," he said.


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