India, Russia to explore oil and gas; aim for $30 bn trade

Looking to deepen economic and trade ties, India and Russia today agreed to jointly explore for oil and gas, build petrochem plants, lay pipelines and cooperate in infrastructure development and smart cities to treble bilateral trade to USD 30 billion by 2025.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Prime Minister Narendra Modi envisage broader collaboration between hydrocarbon companies in oil and gas exploration and production as well as in LNG projects and supplies.

"It is expected that Indian companies will strongly participate in projects related to new oil and gas fields in the territory of the Russian Federation. The sides will study the possibilities of building a hydrocarbon pipeline system, connecting the Russian Federation with India.

"They will also examine avenues for participation in petrochemical projects in each other's country and in third countries," a joint statement said.

The leaders have encouraged Indian and Russian companies to pursue greater participation in each other's power generation projects, as also in supply of equipment, technology for enhanced oil recoveries and extraction of coal, including coking coal.

Recognising the enormous untapped potential in bilateral trade, investment and economic cooperation, the two leaders encouraged businesses to explore opportunities arising from increasing national focus on infrastructure development and expanding the manufacturing sector.

It is expected that Russian companies will utilize the opportunities in a wide range of Indian sectors and will 'Make in India', it said.

The two sides agreed to step up efforts for enhancing bilateral trade in goods and services and set a target of USD 30 billion by 2025, it said adding "it is expected that the level of mutual investments by then will be over USD 15 billion each way."