(MENAFN) Russia is prepared to receive “an unlimited number” of skilled workers from India to help address domestic labor shortages, First Deputy Prime Minister Denis Manturov said. The announcement follows a labor-mobility agreement signed between Russia and India during a summit in New Delhi earlier this week, where President Vladimir Putin met with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Manturov told TASS on Friday that Russia’s manufacturing industry requires at least 800,000 additional workers, while the trade sector faces around 1.5 million unfilled positions. He added that specialists are also needed in services and construction. “I think we have ample room for cooperation,” Manturov said. However, he cautioned that there would be no sharp increase in the number of Indian migrant workers entering Russia “in a single year,” as the process will “take time.”

Speaking at the India-Russia Business Forum in New Delhi, Modi described India as an emerging “skill capital of the world,” highlighting that the country’s young workforce has the capacity to meet global requirements across multiple sectors. He noted that closer labor cooperation would benefit both nations, given Russia’s demographic and economic priorities, and suggested joint Russian-language and soft-skills training programs for Indian workers.

In July, Russia’s Labor Ministry reported that the quota for Indian migrant workers in 2025 stands at 71,817 in total. During the Modi-Putin summit, the two countries also signed agreements aimed at raising bilateral trade to $100 billion by 2030. Among the joint projects announced was the creation of a major pharmaceutical plant in Russia’s Kaluga Region, leveraging India’s expertise as a leading global producer of vaccines and generic medicines.

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