New Delhi, Trade Promotion Council of India (TPCI) on Thursday expressed optimism that the USD 1 billion credit line announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi will go a long way to promote Indian economic presence in the CIS region.
Mr Modi, along with Russian President Vladimir Putin, addressed the summit as the chief guest.
This is PM Modi’s maiden visit to the Russian Far East region. Speaking on the announcement TPCI Chairman Mohit Singla said, ‘India’s offer of USD 1 billion credit line to far east is a great move. Our effort to enter the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) market had always been a daunting challenge owing to the various counter factors such as expensive freights and poor market access.’
It will also enthuse India exporters as they would get market access and working experience to Indian suppliers in Russian projects,’ he said. The Indian companies can now set up a manufacturing cluster, wherein they can use imported and local resources of Russia and sell their products, which had been lying incompetitive since long, Mr Singla added.
The Chairman TPCI further said, ‘The Indian prowess and acceptability of the pharma companies may get a leg up as this is the second serious efforts by India after establishment of Chabahar Port, to enter in the CIS region’.India’s exports to CIS countries were USD 3385.5 million in 2018 while imports were USD 10,593.04 million.
The biggest export destination amongst the CIS nations for India is Russia with total exports to Russia in 2018 being US$ 2331.4 million, followed by Ukraine where Indian exports were of value USD 400 million.
Major items of exports to CIS nations are pharmaceuticals, electrical equipment and machinery, organic chemicals, tea, etc. The average applied tariffs in CIS countries– with the highest average in Uzbekistan of 13.7 per cent (2017), followed by Azerbaijan – 8.5 per cent (2015), Russia – 5.1 per cent (2017), Kyrgyz republic – 4.1per cent (2017) among others.
India will provide a USD 1 billion credit line to boost development in Far Eastern Russia, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced at Vladivostok in Russia. “To continue promoting the development of the Far East, India will provide a USD 1 billion credit line. This is an unprecedented and first time measure when we will provide such a credit line to another country. And I can assure you that the Indian government is working hard on the matter in Eastern Asia,” Mr Modi said at a plenary session of the Eastern Economic Forum (EEF).