The $11-billion diversified Russian conglomerate, Sistema, has drawn up mega plans for India, which include major investments in its core businesses of telecommunications, as well as in the real estate and financial sectors.
Sistema plans to capitalise on the convergence of banking and telecom in the initial stages and may also set up full-fledged banking activities in India in the future. The Russian group plans to invest as much as $5 billion in India over the next three years.
Speaking to FE on the sidelines of the India-Asia Investment Forum in Singapore, Anton Abugov, first vice-president & head of strategy & development at Sistema, said this year it would focus on expanding its telecom business in India through the company it controls, Shyam Telelink.
?This year, it will essentially be the CDMA expansion. Real estate, high technology and banking in India are also priorities for us,? Abugov said. This year itself, Sistema plans to invest about $1 billion in India. Sistema recently announced its intention to increase its stake in Shyam Telelink to 74% from the current 51%.
Abugov said Sistema had a presence in retail banking as well as commercial banking in Russia and would be interested in entering the banking space in India. However, for the moment, it would be involved only in banking related activities, not full-fledged banking.
?There is a lot of convergence between telecom and banking,? he pointed out. ?We are looking at banking related operations right now?export-import banking and the like?and then we may look at a full-fledged bank in India.?
He said Sistema was not yet in touch with the Reserve Bank of India to take forward its banking plans. About 66% of Sistema?s revenues come from telecoms, 14% from technology, 6% from insurance, 2.5% from real estate and just over 4% from tourism and finance.