Russia's AFK Sistema financial corporation is to invest $1 billion in the Indian cellular telecommunication sector over a period of five years.
AFK Sistema, which has controlling stake in premium telecom and electronics companies including Moscow Telephones and three cellular operators in the Russian capital and regions, is holding negotiations with Finnish venture companies CapMan, Aboa Venture and Nordea Capital for moving into Indian mobile telephony sector.
"India is quite a mature market for investing $1 billion," president of Sistema-Telecom Holding, the telecom arm of AFK Sistema, Alexander Goncharuk was quoted as saying by leading business daily Kommersant.
Confirming his company's plans to invest in India, Goncharuk said that details of the India project would be made shortly.
So far AFK Sistema group has been focusing on acquiring stakes in mobile telephony in CIS (Commonwealth of Independent States) countries through its GSM operator MobileTele Systems.
The AFK Sistema's plans to eye India as investment destination were unveiled by Russian Industries and Science Minister Ilya Klebanov last month in the run up to President Vladimir Putin's state visit.
According to AFK Sistema's website negotiations were being conducted with India's software giants Wipro and InfoSys and public sector ITI telecom equipment manufacturer for tie up.
However, AFK Sistema's Senior Vice President Levan Vasadze indicated that it would prefer to wait till Lok Sabha polls in 2004.
