“India is a huge market, and Tatarstan has all the necessary resources”
Russia and India face the task of bringing bilateral trade turnover to $100 billion by 2030. Tatarstan is increasing mutual trade especially noticeably
This week the II Russian-Indian business forum “TIME” will be held in Kazan. It, as reported by the head of the Investment Development Agency of Tatarstan, Taliya Minullina, is a republican initiative for mutual efficiency, for bringing the two countries closer. “India is a huge market, and Tatarstan has all the necessary resources. You have everything we need. We have a large share that can give you labor force. The forum 'TIME' is called upon to make this potential visible. This is not a bridge between our countries, the bridge already exists. We are making lighting for this bridge so that it can be seen far away," emphasized the Consul General of India in Kazan, Jaisundhar D. Details — in the material of “Real Time.”
Forum “TIME”: 36 events and 14 sessions
The II Russian-Indian business forum “TIME” will offer participants a large-scale business program. As reported by Taliya Minullina, it includes 36 events, 23 sessions and 14 tracks — from education, culture and IT to industry, logistics, medicine and investments. The key events will be the ceremonial opening, 14 business sessions, the exhibition “Russia — India: Interregional Partnership” and a festival of cultures.
In the business program there are also planned a Sber business breakfast, a round table with the largest Indian companies with the participation of the Rais of Tatarstan Rustam Minnikhanov and a plenary session “Russia and India: The Time of Regions” with the Indian Ambassador Vinay Kumar.
As noted by Taliya Minullina, five municipalities participate in the exhibition: Sabinsky, Spassky, Kukmorsky districts, Zelenodolsk and Kazan. Participation in the forum is free; a mobile application “TIME” has been developed for scheduling B2B meetings.
India and Tatarstan: economic potential and growth points
India is one of the most dynamically developing economies in the world. It grows by 7% a year, faster than China, gives almost 13% of world economic growth and occupies second place in the world by startups. About 60% of the country's GDP comes from the service sector.
Russia and India face an ambitious task — to bring bilateral trade turnover to $100 billion by 2030. India already occupies second place among Russia's foreign trade partners after China, and for all regions this is today a priority direction.
Tatarstan is increasing its turnover especially noticeably. In the first half of 2026 alone the volume of trade between India and the republic exceeded a billion dollars, whereas earlier the figures were considerably more modest. Among the key directions of cooperation of Tatarstan with India Taliya Minullina singled out medicine, agriculture and logistics.
In the sphere of medicine the parties work in three directions: the creation of a scientific-educational working group on the basis of KFU, the attraction of Indian investments for the creation of a Health Center and the development of medical tourism. These initiatives were proposed for Tatarstan by the Ministry of India in the sphere of traditional medicine AYUSH during the I Russian-Indian business forum “TIME” in 2025.
In agriculture the supplies of agricultural products from Tatarstan to India for the first eight months of 2026 reached $60.9 million. The basis of the supplies is sunflower oil. India is considered as a key strategic direction for expanding the export of grain and other types of food.
In the sphere of infrastructure and transport Tatarstan leads by business air flow to India: the republic accounts for 15.2% of all business trips from Russia to this country. The main centers of generation of the flow are Kazan and Naberezhnye Chelny. Over the past year the number of business air orders from Tatarstan to India grew 17 times.
Against the background of growing demand the republic is conducting negotiations on opening a direct regular flight from Kazan to Mumbai. The flight, according to Minullina, will positively affect both the tourist and the business flow.
Labor market: India as a source of personnel
The Deputy Minister of Labor, Employment and Social Protection of Tatarstan, Klara Tazetdinova, presented the session on the labor market. She emphasized that this section is brought forward as an economic and partnership dialogue, and not as a social project. Under conditions of labor force shortage in Russia the influx of personnel from India is becoming ever more relevant.
The number of the labor force in the republic is 2.082 million people, the employment level — 62%, which is higher than the average for Russia (61.5%) and the Volga Federal District (60.7%). The number of those employed in the economy — 2,087.51 thousand people. In the labor market a disbalance is preserved: for one unemployed person there are 26 vacancies. The annual need for personnel is 51.37 thousand people, and by 2030 it may grow to 61.65 thousand.
In the economy of Tatarstan 58 thousand migrants are employed. Most of them work by patent — these are citizens of visa-free countries. Among them Uzbekistan leads (65%), Tajikistan (22%) and Azerbaijan (10%). Workers from visa countries constitute a smaller share: most of all from Turkmenistan (61%), India (16%) and Uganda (8%).
The quota for attracting foreign workers in Tatarstan grows annually. If in 2023 it was 1,054 people, then in 2024 — 1,502, in 2025 — 11,513, and in 2026 it exceeded 15 thousand people. Separate attention is paid to specialists from India: the quota for them over three years grew more than 20 times — from 141 people in 2024 to 3 thousand in 2026.
Tazetdinova noted the high potential of India: there is a large able-bodied population there, and the personnel training system corresponds to the demand of the Tatarstan economy, especially in IT, engineering and medical spheres. Construction, healthcare and agriculture are named as promising directions.
Industry of Tatarstan enters the Indian market
The Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade of the republic, German Lerner, presented the industrial agenda of the forum. He reported that the foreign trade turnover between Tatarstan and India for the first half of 2026 grew more than 9 times. Promising directions of cooperation are machine building, oil and gas chemistry, geological exploration, medicine, instrument making, the food and aviation industry.
Tatarstan companies already actively work with Indian partners. The company “Eidos” supplies medical simulators to universities of India, and the group of companies “Escort” since 2025 produces equipment for transport monitoring. Lerner noted that Tatarstan goods are competitive and recognized by the world community.
The deputy minister emphasized — India has a huge market with a population of 1.47 billion people and economic growth rates of 7.4%, while Tatarstan has strong industry and technologies. The task of the forum is to turn this potential into concrete contracts.
The potential of cooperation with India is not yet fully revealed
The Consul General of the Republic of India in Kazan, Jaisundhar D., noted that between the countries a limited exchange of information is preserved and the potential of cooperation has not yet been fully studied.
— India is a huge market, and Tatarstan has all the necessary resources. You have everything we need. We have a large share that can give you labor force. The forum “TIME” is called upon to make this potential visible. This is not a bridge between our countries, the bridge already exists. We are making lighting for this bridge so that it can be seen far away, emphasized Jaisundhar D.