India and Russia on Saturday decided to speed up a $1-bn fund as a part of their partnership to boost infrastructure and signed an agreement to jointly manufacture choppers under the Make in India initiative, among others."Our efforts for early setting up of an investment fund of $1 billion between National Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF) and Russia Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) will help advance our infrastructure partnership," Prime Minister Narendra Modi said during a joint press conference with Russian President Vladimir Putin.The announcements came during the ongoing 8th BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa) Summit here.
The agreements also included manufacturing of Kamov 226T helicopters and construction of frigates in accordance with the Make in India objective.On the sidelines of the event, Russia's Rosneft and an investment consortium led by European commodities trader Trafigura and Russian fund United Capital Partners, announced the signing of a pact to acquire a 98 per cent stake in India's second biggest private oil firm Essar Oil for $10.9 billion, pegged as the single largest foreign direct investment ever.The two countries witnessed exchange of 16 agreements across various sectors.