Indian infrastructure financing company IDFC Ltd has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) to jointly invest up to $1 billion in infrastructure projects.
The announcement comes amid meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Prime Minister Narendra Modi as part of the annual India-Russia summit in the country.
The pact will promote joint investments helping accelerate economic cooperation between the two nations and each party will provide up to $500 million to invest in joint projects, a jointly issued press release stated.
"RDIF will benefit from IDFC's industry insights and execution expertise in cooperating with network of portfolio companies in infrastructure sector. Our partner's experience in such areas as large scale concession projects specifically in transport infrastructure will be invaluable on growing Russian infrastructure market," Kirill Dmitriev, chief executive at RDIF, said.
RDIF, a state-owned fund set up in 2011, said the partnership will strengthen Russia and India's relationship by promoting cross-border investments and economic cooperation adding to the growth of the two nations.
“Both the countries are progressing at a fast pace and infrastructure remains one of the key focus areas. This partnership will enable us to fast track vital projects and deliver on the long-term goals. We look forward to leveraging our knowledge and skills in building the infrastructure of Russia and India," says Rajiv Lall, executive chairman, IDFC.
RDIF was established in 2011 with $10 billion in state funds to make equity co-investments primarily in Russia with international financial and strategic investors. Based in Moscow, RDIF's management company is a 100 per cent subsidiary of Vnesheconombank. IDFC was set up in 1997 as a private enterprise by a consortium of public and private investors. It facilitates private investment and public-private partnerships in infrastructure projects in multiple sectors.
(Edited by Joby Puthuparampil Johnson)