Indian Conglomerate Tata Power Investing $500 Million Into Russian Solar Projects

---

---

One of India’s biggest integrated power companies, Tata Power, is partnering with the state-run Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) to invest a total of $1 billion into various solar/renewable energy projects to be developed across Russia, according to recent reports.

Tata Power, will be responsible for half of that investment number, for a total of around $500 million. The specifics of the deal have yet to be disclosed to the public, but an official representative of the Russian Ministry of Industry and Trade did note that there’s a possibility that projects will be spread throughout different regions — with projects likely to be developed in Rostov Oblast, the Republic of Dagestan, the Republic of Kalmykia, and the far-eastern and far-northern portions of the country.

A list detailing the exact locations of where the projects are expected to be developed is due to be completed by the beginning (roughly) of 2015.

Interestingly, the head of the RDIF, Kirill Dmitriev, stated that developing joint projects in India at some point in the future was a possibility.

The move isn’t all that surprising. In addition to the slow strengthening of the ties between the countries in recent years, it seemed all but inevitable that the recent sanctions leveled against Russia would simply lead to the country withdrawing from Europe and the US and strengthening its ties with China, India, and other regional players.

By this author’s opinion, it seems unlikely that the sanctions imposed on Russia will have much of an effect on the country’s economy a couple of years from now, appearing less like an intelligent policy decision and more like a short term solution chosen for political reasons — and one that may very well make things worse, leading to increasing factionalization on the international level, and increasing strife between the various blocs.

Russia may very well have some short-term economic problems present themselves via the volatility of the oil market as of late (something that has been predicted for years now by many in the peak oil scene), but that volatility won’t just effect the Russia — the US and many other major oil producers around the world are likely to experience economic issues as well.

Image Credit: Russian Flag via Flickr CC