Kochi, March 16 : The Kerala chapter of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) on Wednesday decided to explore possible business opportunities between the state and Tomsk region of Russia.

A 10-member business delegation from Tomsk region headed by Yaroslav Tarasyuk, Trade Commissioner of the Russian Federation to India, expressed the desire to have bilateral relations with India especially in areas such as pharma, infrastructure, nano material, plywood, water treatment etc.

CII Kerala State Council chairman V.P. Nandakumar said the state's strength was in food processing, ayurveda, tourism, IT, rubber, coir, spices, fisheries and Kerala was ready to go forward to build trade relations with the Russian region.

Sebastian Thomas, a senior official with the state-run Kerala State Industrial Development Corporation Limited, proposed joint ventures in sectors such as health with special focus on cancer, thyroid, education and innovation and pointed out the scope for Russia to explore ayurveda for treating such ailments.