Chennai-Vladivostok MoI will boost trade multifold: FM

The signing of an agreement between India and Russia to open a maritime route between Chennai and Vladivostok was an opportunity to increase economic activity multifold, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said here on Tuesday.

She recalled that a delegation from India had gone to Russia in 2016-17 and discussed the possibilities of opening the maritime route between the two cities.

"A team from Tamil Nadu also had gone there then. I had told the media that there has been a 40 per cent increase in trade between southern parts of India and Russia", she said.

The minister said the signing of the Memorandum of Intent between the two nations would lead to increased business in Chennai Port Trust.

"There is a possibility that the economic activity will grow multi-fold", she said. Sitharaman was talking to reporters on 'Furthering India's development - 100 days of Bold initiatives and decisive actions of the Government of India."

On September 4, India and Russia agreed to open a maritime route between the ports of Chennai and Vladivostok to ensure connectivity between the two countries.

A Memorandum of Intent was signed between the Indian Ministry of Shipping and Russia's Ministry of Transport for the development of maritime communications between the ports of Chennai and Vladivostok in Russia's Far East Region.

The agreement was signed after Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his two-day visit to Russia after holding talks with President Vladimir Putin. Modi's visit to Russia last week made him the first Prime Minister to visit the Russian Far East Region.