German Gref said the parties reached a relevant agreement during his visit to India, which ended February 13.
The $1 billion debt, representing one-third of India's $3 billion debt to Russia, will cease to be considered as a debt obligation and repaid as of April 15, 2007, and will be invested in joint Russian-Indian projects, Gref said.
So far, the parties have selected the $126 million project to build a titanium dioxide plant in the Indian state of Orissa for investment, Gref said. The enterprise will be built by the Russian company Tekhnokhimholding, the minister said.
A decision to finance the development of a multi-purpose transport plane with the Indian debt has not yet been made, the minister said.
The Russian government is prepared to consider other applications from Russian companies to establish joint ventures in India using the Indian debt. Applications will qualify if the term of investment is at least five years, the minister said.
