“Bringing INNOPROM to India for the first time marks a new chapter in Russia-India industrial collaboration. Our leaders have given us a shared ambition to deepen trade and investment between our two countries,” said Shri Amardeep Singh Bhatia, Secretary, DPIIT, Government of India, at the Opening Session on India–Russia Business Cooperation: Driving Strategic Partnerships and New Opportunities at the India-Russia Business Dialogue 2026 held in New Delhi on 9 September 2026 during INNOPROM 2026.
He went on to state that India today offers a cost-competitive manufacturing ecosystem, a widening startup ecosystem, and FTAs opening access to a vast share of the global economy. “I would encourage every Russian company, whether in mining, digital infrastructure, cybersecurity, aluminium, or advanced materials, to use these three days not only to display your technology, but to find a partner”, he stated.
Mr Bhatia emphasised the need to balance trade and diversify sectors beyond traditional energy, fertilizers, and textiles into areas like nuclear energy, which includes machinery, digital technologies, and logistics.
The same session was also addressed by Mr Aleksai Gruzdev, Hon’ble Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade of the Russian Federation. Hon’ble minister spoke about the need to diversify and balance trade and to create favourable conditions for the market. “We need to face competition, but at the same time we need to ensure there are no artificial barriers on the way forward.”
He spoke about critical minerals being a point of growth for both countries in various sectors. It's not only mining technologies, extraction or processing and enrichment, it's the supply chain, and it's securing the supplies for many industries that need rare earth critical minerals to develop. He also discussed the need for digital technologies to improve the quality of goods circulated in the market, made in Russia, made in India.
Furthermore, at the session on “Critical Minerals and Materials: New Opportunities for Industrial Cooperation”, Mr. Mikhail Yurin, Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade of the Russian Federation stated "We cannot imagine any high-tech sector without the use of rare earth metals. Our reserves rank us seventh in the world in rare earth metals. We are open for mutual cooperation with our partner nations, with India being one of our key partners”. Emphasising how critical minerals underpin sectors ranging from electronics, energy and automobiles to robotics, aviation, space and defence, he added how combining Russia's resource base, technology and processing expertise with India's large and growing industrial market could help build technological sovereignty and reliable supply chains of critical products.
“Technological sovereignty does not mean isolation. We are interested in the sale of products, but also in working with partners to develop technologies, build production capacity and guarantee reliable long-term supply,” Mr. Yurin stated, highlighting the scope for India-Russia cooperation in areas including rare earths, lithium, titanium and other critical materials. He also noted how resources alone do not guarantee leadership and must be complemented by technology, investment and skills.
The session was also addressed by Mr. Keshav Chandra, Secretary, Ministry of Mines, Government of India, who spoke of India’s recently launched Critical Mineral Mission with an outlay of nearly USD 1.7 billion and the importance of developing the entire critical mineral lifecycle, rather than focusing only on mining. “Not only the mining, but processing and the use of the processed product in downstream industries are very critical,” he said.
Mr. Chandra also highlighted India’s efforts to identify new domestic sources of critical minerals including checking existing mines for critical minerals alongside the minerals already being extracted. He also noted that India is exploring black mass from end-of-life electronic products as a potential source of critical minerals for which it is examining overburden, tailings and historical/legacy dumps.
Mr. Sandeep Poundrik, Secretary, Ministry of Steel, Government of India, was present at the session on “India-Russia Collaboration on Steel Value Chain”. He said “we are keen to strengthen the India-Russia partnership across the steel value chain, built around four key pillars: raw material security, technology collaboration, outbound and inbound investments and expanding our steel trade. There is considerable growth for cooperation in critical minerals and rare earth elements, minerals such as nickel, vanadium and other strategic minerals. Russia has significant resource strength in these areas, and we would like to see greater cooperation in mining beneficiation and processing.”
Mr. Poundrik further underlined the need for the two countries to collaborate in advanced metallurgical processes, mining and mineral processing technologies and process automation, digital manufacturing, specialty steel technologies and low-emission steel making.
New Delhi
10 September 2026