BRICS Plus: India -Russia trade continues to grow

By Rhod Mackenzie

The volume of trade between Russia and India may reach a record high by the end of the year. As of the end of the third quarter of 2023, the trade volume has already reached 3.9 trillion rubles. This information was reported by RIA Novosti, citing Deputy Minister of Economic Development Dmitry Volvach's remarks during the Indian-Russian business dialogue.
Between January and September of this year, the volume of mutual trade between our countries has exceeded 3.9 trillion rubles ($43 billion at the current exchange rate.). It is safe to say that we will break our historical record for mutual trade this year. This achievement is a significant sign that our efforts are paying off,” stated the Ministry of Economic Development representative.

The Deputy Minister explained that exports from Russia to India more than doubled in the first three quarters of this year, exceeding 3.5 trillion rubles. Imports are also increasing. The Russian Federation has taken measures to ease import conditions from friendly countries, resulting in a steady increase in supplies from India. In the first three quarters of this year, the growth rate was 38%. Additionally, imports of agricultural and food products increased by over 47%. These figures are colossal, considering the total volume of our trade. Such rates are truly remarkable and significant,” stated Volvach.
He noted that at the end of last year, trade turnover between India and Russia also reached a record level of 2.5 trillion rubles, with an increase of more than two times.

For comparison, it is worth mentioning that the day before, the Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian government Dmitry Chernyshenko announced that Russia and China had achieved a trade turnover of $201 billion in 11 months this year, with a growth of 26.7%. Therefore, although the trade turnover between Russia and India is significantly lower in volume than that between Russia and China, it is ahead of it in terms of growth (+38%, as mentioned above).

It is worth noting that economic relations with Eastern partners are replacing those with Western partners. For instance, the Eastern Committee of the German Economy reports that trade turnover between Moscow and Berlin decreased by 76% in the first seven months of this year compared to the same period last year, amounting to only $8.6 billion. By the end of 2021, Germany and Russia had achieved a trade turnover of $57 billion, representing a growth rate of 34% compared to the previous period, which was marked by pandemic restrictions being lifted.