New Deli, Dec 5 : Union Minister of Commerce and Industry Kamal Nath today said that India and Russia have managed to sustain strong business vibes in recent years.

Addressing the India-Russia CEOs Council meeting here, Nath said that there is immense possibility for joint investments in the areas like banking, information technology, telecommunications, high-technology sectors, power, pharmaceuticals and textiles.

"Indian companies are quickly establishing themselves in Russia and the cumulative Indian investments in the Russian economy amounted to 744.1 million dollars as of March 31, 2008", he added.

Nath informed that there is a strong case for Russian companies to invest in India, especially in power sector, as Russia is energy rich and India''s energy requirements are going to increase manifold over the next 10-15 years.

He emphasised that critical sectors of the economy, like agriculture, have started a process of revival by growing at a rate of close to four per cent. This growth rate is a significant contribution to inclusiveness, which is vital for India as it helps sustain domestic consumption, which will sustain our growth story in the short, medium and long term, he added.

As regards the global meltdown, Nath expressed hope that "Our economies will bounce back, because of their sound fundamentals and large domestic demand. We too are taking measures to inject growth dynamism back into our economy. We are cutting bank rates and easing statutory reserve requirements to inject liquidity into the system. We are also looking at creating demand impetus in a number of sectors, especially consumer driven industries and exported-oriented ones."

Bilateral trade between India and Russia during 2008-09 was to the tune of 1613.56 million dollars.

Major items of export are drugs, pharmaceuticals and fine chemicals, RMG cotton including accessories, tea, coffee, tobacco un-manufactured, processed minerals, plastic and linoleum products, machinery and instruments, transport equipments, electronic goods. Major items of import are iron and steel, non-ferrous metals, coal, coke, newsprint, silver, synthetic and reclaimed rubber. (ANI)