Korea Trade Insurance Corp. (K-Sure) will offer trade credit of up to $1 billion in a project led by Samsung Electronics Co. to expand India’s wireless network.

The export credit agency said Sunday it agreed to offer a trade aid package to a consortium of more than 30 Korean companies, including Samsung Electronics, in a telecom project run by Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd., a subsidiary of India’s largest private sector company Reliance Industries Ltd.

This follows a $750 million K-Sure credit extended to the Korean tech giant in 2015 in a deal to build India’s first long-term evolution (LTE) network across the country.

Samsung Electronics signed an exclusive deal with Reliance Jio Infocomm in 2012 to supply LTE network equipment and started installing LTE services throughout India in September 2016. The Korean company’s network business in Asia’s third-largest economy, where internet and smartphone use has been exploding, ranges from equipment for core infrastructure like base stations and voice over LTE services to installation of telecommunication networks.

The state-owned export credit agency is expected to provide similar financial support to future deals earned by Korean businesses in India where the economy is rapidly growing. “We plan to further back the financing of Indian companies in their deals with Korean companies to open the door for more Korean businesses in the country,” said a K-Sure official.

By Ko Jae-man and Kim Hyo-jin

[ⓒ Pulse by Maeil Business Newspaper & mk.co.kr, All rights reserved]