Commerce minister Kamal Nath with Russian Prime Minister Victor A. Zubkov in New Delhi on Tuesday. Picture by Ramakant Kushwaha

New Delhi, Feb. 12: India and Russia will consider opening up their markets through a comprehensive economic cooperation pact and try to raise bilateral trade to $10 billion in three years.

“If we grow 30 per cent every year, we may achieve the trade figure of $10 billion by 2010,” Russian Prime Minister Victor A. Zubkov said at the meeting of the India-Russia Forum on Trade and Investment here. Bilateral trade between the two nations stood at $3.3 billion for 2006-07.

A joint task force is working on an economic co-operation agreement between the two countries, which along with Brazil and China make up the four most rapidly developing economies in the world.

Zubkov told the forum that Russian rupee debt funds were being used for the titanium project in Orissa. “We are investing the Russian rupee debt in the Indian economy,” Zubkov said.

Commerce and industry minister Kamal Nath said the Russian firms were interested in a host of Indian sectors, including engineering, metallurgy, automobile, aircraft building and infrastructure development. “We are taking steps to cooperate in titanium oxide production,” he said, adding that Russian entrepreneurs were also interested in India’s growing telecom market.

Nath said Russia and India had been on good terms, but bilateral trade and investment had not been much. He said the Centre was keen on reviving the tea trade with Russia.

Tea exports to Russia have been fluctuating because of changes in competition and production levels of other countries. Exports fell in 2005-06 as tea production dropped and the domestic market became attractive, officials said.

The appreciation of the rupee against the rouble, after the expiry of the exchange pact, led to higher tea prices and the loss of market share to countries such as Vietnam. The recent arms-for-tea deal between Sri Lanka and Russia has also affected the market share of Indian tea in Russia.

Indian producers have also failed to adapt to changing consumer preferences for orthodox over CTC tea. The government plans to provide a subsidy to promote the production of orthodox tea. The Tea Board will certify the origin of the tea as a quality assurance measure.