The name Volanga is a synthesis of The Volga, Matushka, mother river of Russia and the Holy Ganga, very soul of India. The synthesis of these two civilizational rivers gives birth to Volanga- the perfect symbiosis between the Russian and the Indian people.
Way back in 1942, the renowned famous Indian scholar Mahapandit Rahul Sanskritayan wrote the famous book Volga se Ganga which literally translates to a journey from the Volga to the Ganges symbolizing the confluence of the Indian and Russian civilizations.
Times change, governments change, systems change but the friendship between the two is ever-enduring, time-tested & ceaselessly flowing as the waters of the two mighty rivers from which we derive our inspiration for creating Volanga – the symbiosis.
India-Russia trading relations are centuries old. Impetuous to this trade was given post-Indian Independence during the Soviet period in Russia.
Bilateral visits by Prime Minister Nehru and President Khrushchev laid the foundation and trade boomed from the 1960s. General Secretary Leonid Brezhnev’s 1961 visit to India opened many opportunities in the Indo-Russian trade and cultural exchanges. During Brezhnevs visit, grandfather of the founder, Sri Ram Gopal Agarwala, a Member of Parliament was assigned to escort and show General Secretary Brezhnev the Industrial Trade Fair organised in his honour.
Subsequent decades saw substantial increase in India-Russia trade and the Agarwala group prominently participated in this trade being the largest exporter of Mica to the Russian industry.
It all began when the Agarwalas took over world-renowned Chrestien Mining Company, the largest Mica mining company in India with nearly 100 square kilometres of mining area in Bihar (now Jharkhand) in 1946 and renamed it as Christian Mica Industries.
Building on the conducive Indo-Russian trade relations, the group became the foremost exporter of Mica to the Soviet Union and later Russia. There has been no looking back since then as the Group continues to hold its position as the key imminent supplier of this vital mineral to the biggest and the most established electrical insulating industries in Russia. Gradually the group diversified into the production of firebricks required in steel and rubber. It also took over companies producing casting material for use in railways, high-quality printing ink that was found suitable for printing currency notes, and superior fabric that was used in weaving the best mosquito nets in India. As the product lines expanded, the group thrived and the future looked bright.
‘Volanga’ is a B2B trade entity created by Rahul Agarwala, a scion of the Agarwala group who has built on the group’s legacy of developing trade opportunities between India and Russia since the early years of the post-Independence era. A union of the names of the most celebrated rivers of the two countries - Volga in Russia and Ganga in India, this brand entity aims to usher in a new era of bilateral trade between the two countries, leveraging the skills, networks, alliances and support the group has enjoyed over the years, thanks to the determination and enterprise of its founder’s long-standing trade relations with Russia.
Founder & CEO, Volanga
Building on the strong foundation laid by the forerunners, Rahul Agarwala has founded Volanga as a unique trade entity that leverages the extensive network connect, and Russian access points that his predecessors at the Agarwala Group have established since the early years of Indian independence. Mr. Agarwala has 30 years of experience in trading, export, and marketing in the Russian market and is acclimatized with the business climate of the country. A fluent speaker of the Russian language, he is the ideal point of reference on any matter concerning Indo-Russian trade relations and has an impressive knowledge base of Russian marketing styles and ethics.
Mr. Rahul Agarwala is also a National Board Member and Convener of International Affairs of the MSME Development Forum. The MSME sector has emerged as a highly vibrant and dynamic sector of the Indian economy over the last several decades.
MSMEs not only play a crucial role in providing large employment opportunities but also help in industrialization and are complementary to large industries as ancillary units contributing to the socio-economic development of the country.
Mr. Agarwala’s domain knowledge of the Russian market and in-depth association with the MSME sector in India makes him an instrumental player in ushering in a new and promising era in Indo-Russian trade relations and strategic alliance. With this vision, he has launched Volanga, a B2B marketplace for trading between Russia and India, which shall offer value-added services of Product Specialists, Logistics, Warehousing, QC , Verification / Validation, Banking, Language / Translation.
Building on the strong foundation laid by the forerunners, Rahul Agarwala has founded Volanga as a unique trade entity that leverages the extensive network connect, and Russian access points that his predecessors at the Agarwala Group have established since the early years of Indian independence. Mr. Agarwala has 30 years of experience in trading, export, and marketing in the Russian market and is acclimatized with the business climate of the country. A fluent speaker of the Russian language, he is the ideal point of reference on any matter concerning Indo-Russian trade relations and has an impressive knowledge base of Russian marketing styles and ethics.
Mr. Rahul Agarwala is also a National Board Member and Convener of International Affairs of the MSME Development Forum. The MSME sector has emerged as a highly vibrant and dynamic sector of the Indian economy over the last several decades.
MSMEs not only play a crucial role in providing large employment opportunities but also help in industrialization and are complementary to large industries as ancillary units contributing to the socio-economic development of the country.
Mr. Agarwala’s domain knowledge of the Russian market and in-depth association with the MSME sector in India makes him an instrumental player in ushering in a new and promising era in Indo-Russian trade relations and strategic alliance. With this vision, he has launched Volanga, a B2B marketplace for trading between Russia and India, which shall offer value-added services of Product Specialists, Logistics, Warehousing, QC , Verification / Validation, Banking, Language / Translation.