Russian fund expresses interest to invest in India's infrastructure, technology sectors

Bullish on the Indian economy, Russia's sovereign wealth fund RDIF plans to invest in the country's infrastructure and technology sectors, according to a senior official.

The Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), which has reserved capital of USD 10 billion under management, is also looking for more investments in technology and other sectors in India through its portfolio companies.

"In the next 12 months, our investment through portfolio companies would be more than USD 100 million. Definitely, we believe that it can increase more," RDIF Chief Executive Officer Kirill Dmitriev told PIT in an interview.

Noting that the fund will encourage more technological cooperation between Russia and India, he said there is a big opportunity for more investments in technology.

"We would (also) like to invest in Indian infrastructure. We believe that there are lot of opportunities here. We would like to invest in hydropower plants in India, including small generation ones... We believe Indian economy is growing very well," he said.

Dmitriev was in the national capital last week, as part of Russian President Vladimir Putin's visit to India.

"We are encouraging our portfolio companies to expand. One is Russian Helicopters to invest in India... It is one of the portfolio companies," RDIF Chief Risk Officer Kishan Reddy said.

On October 5, the RDIF, Russia's PhosAgro and Indian Potash Ltd inked a pact for investments in the production of mineral fertilisers in both countries.

Under the pact, Indian Potash has agreed to import up to 2 million tonnes of fertilisers worth USD 1 billion (over Rs 7,300 crore) from PhosAgro, the world's leading producer of phosphate-based nutrients, over the next three years.

The main areas of cooperation between India and Russia are nuclear energy, defence, pharmaceuticals, oil and gas, engineering and technology.

According to the RDIF, it is ready to become a base for providing "technological breakthrough" in partnership with Indian companies.

Set up in 2011, the RDIF has reserved capital of USD 10 billion under management and attracted more than USD 40 billion of foreign capital into the Russian economy through long-term strategic partnerships, as per its website.

(With inputs from agencies.)