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India explores joint venture with Russia for silicon wafers

MOSCOW: India will be seeking Russia's assistance in setting up a national disaster management centre modelled on a Russian facility, Union IT and Communications Minister A. Raja said.

The Minister was ‘highly impressed' by the high-tech National Emergency Management Centre he visited here. The centre gathers online information about natural and manmade disasters all over Russia and coordinates relief and mitigation efforts.

“We badly need such a centre in India and our Home Minister will be visiting Russia soon to firm up specific agreements,” Mr. Raja told Indian reporters here.

Mr. Raja is paying his first visit to Russia on October 10-15 at the invitation of his Russian counterpart, Igor Shchegolev.

The two sides agreed to explore the possibility of setting up a joint venture in India to produce silicon chips and telecom equipment. The idea came up during the Minister's visit to the Moscow-based Micron Company, which boasts an integrated chip-making facility.

Priority areas

“We are looking to Russia, which is among the few countries manufacturing 3G and WiMax chips, to assist India in achieving self-sufficiency in this field,'' he said. India and Russia are planning to sign an MoU in the field of IT and Telecom when Mr. Shchegolev visits India. “We have identified three priority areas for cooperation in IT: e-governance, telemedicine and techno parks,” he said. Interestingly, the same areas were identified during the previous visit of an Indian IT and Communications Minister to Russia in 2001. However, there has been no follow-up since then, Mr. Raja admitted.

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