India's Consul General Debabrata Chattopadhyay Visits Sima-Land

Yekaterinburg is strengthening its status as a key center of Russian-Indian partnership. On 26 January, the 77th anniversary of India«s Republic Day, a consulate general of the friendly country will open in the Ural capital. A few days before that, the first ever Consul General of the Republic of India in Yekaterinburg officially began his duties. He is Debabrata Chattopadhyay.

His appointment became known on 22 January 2026. The next day, Debabrata Chattopadhyay met with the honorary consul of India in Yekaterinburg, Andrey Simanovsky — the head of the regional company Sima-Land. He was nominated for this position by the Indian side itself in 2018.

— The opening of India«s representation in Yekaterinburg will help strengthen friendship and partnership between our countries. It will allow for the development of trade, tourism, economy, science, technology, education, and culture. Yekaterinburg is a region famous for its industry and connection to Siberia. For both countries — Russia and India — it is a key outpost for business development. Plans include increasing mutual trade volume to 100 billion dollars by 2030. Also, the new office will make life easier for Indian students, businessmen, and residents. It will serve a large territory of Russia, and over time, new services will appear that will make working with it simpler and more convenient, — commented Consul General of the Republic of India Debabrata Chattopadhyay.

The meeting took place at the Sima-Land enterprise. During the business visit, the parties discussed issues related to the work of the new consul and outlined further plans in the fields of culture, tourism, and industry.

— India and its states are a long-standing and reliable partner of Sverdlovsk Oblast. We jointly develop key directions in industry — metalworking, machine tool building, mining and processing of minerals, pharmaceuticals. But we would not have been able to achieve all this without tremendous support. I hope that with the arrival of the Consul General in Sverdlovsk Oblast, our friendly cultural and humanitarian ties will only strengthen and develop further, — commented Vyacheslav Yarin, Minister of International and Foreign Economic Relations of Sverdlovsk Oblast.

The consular district in Yekaterinburg has become the third in the country after Moscow and St. Petersburg and one of the largest in Russia — it covers 16 territories at once: the Ural Federal District, Perm and Altai Krais, the Republics of Altai, Tuva, and Khakassia, Novosibirsk and Omsk Oblasts.

— Historically, it has turned out that Russia and India have much in common. Take, for example, the Russian philosopher and artist Nicholas Roerich. I want to wish the consulate success and assure that the new Consul General can always count on us, on the representation of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, on the Ministry of International Relations of Sverdlovsk Oblast, the company«s team, — said at the meeting Alexander Kharlov, representative of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The new diplomatic representation will also become a «single window» for business. An increase in trade turnover is expected, especially in such key spheres as industry, machine building, and pharmaceuticals.

The work of the consulate is also capable of giving a powerful impetus to the development of the educational sphere, tourism industry, cultural exchange, industrial partnership, medical cooperation.

The first negotiations on the possibility of placing a diplomatic representation in the Urals began back in 2012. Throughout all these years, active discussions and assessment of the region«s potential were conducted.

The decision to open a representation in the Ural capital was first announced by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in July 2024 during a meeting with the Indian diaspora in Moscow. The initiative received support from the Russian Government.

The ceremony of opening the consulate took place in November 2025 at the Indian Embassy in Moscow. Recall that in December of the same year, Russian President Vladimir Putin visited India and met with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The heads of state noted that the relations between the countries have a deep historical character. New directions are emerging, related to development and joint work in the fields of aviation, space, high technologies, artificial intelligence.