NEW DELHI--Russia will build up to 16 nuclear reactors for power stations in India, Russia's deputy premier said on Friday during a visit to India with Prime Minister Vladimir Putin to reaffirm decades-old ties.
Russia is competing with French and American firms for lucrative contracts to build nuclear power plants for energy-hungry India because Asia's third-largest economy needs to boost its supply to help sustain rapid economic growth. "The agreement sees construction of up to sixteen nuclear reactors in three locations," Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov told reporters.
Putin pledged on Friday to boost banking and technology cooperation with India, seeking to bolster ties with a Cold War ally that has been shifting focus towards the United States. Russia wants to boost trade with India to $20 billion by 2015 from the current $8 billion. Together with China and Brazil, Russia and India make up the so-called BRIC group of major emerging economies, whose global influence is rising.
The two nations also seek a greater role in stabilising the region because both share security interests emanating from Islamist militant violence and the war in Afghanistan. "India is our strategic partner which is an evidence that our geopolitical interests almost fully coincide," Putin told a conference with businessmen in the Indian capital New Delhi.
Setting the tone for his one-day visit mainly aimed at keeping one of the world's biggest arms importers interested in Russian weapons, Putin offered state financial aid for the Indian telecoms unit of Russian conglomerate Sistema. Sistema, controlled by billionaire Vladimir Yevtushenkov, is looking to deepen its investment in Sistema Shyam TeleServices, a joint venture with India's Shyam group.
"We are ready to contribute funds for your joint activity," Putin said in response to a question by a Shyam group official. Yevtushenkov later said the Russian government would become a shareholder in Shyam.
Putin also vowed to remove hurdles in the banking sector that he said were hampering mutual trade, and signalled that the government was ready to encourage joint ventures and acquisitions in the sector.
